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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. field — a subject
  8. rest — a break
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rest — what's left
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. degree — temperature
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. pass — a permit
  22. field — farmland
  23. branch — a division
  24. rest — what's left

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com