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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 124 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. field — a subject
  9. degree — from a university
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. rush — hurry
  13. file — a document
  14. season — of the year
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. field — farmland
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bark — to shout
  19. field — for sport
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. file — a tool
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. file — a line of people
  24. rush — a thrill

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