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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. degree — an amount
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cell — in biology
  17. field — for sport
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. chair — a leader
  22. cell — a phone
  23. degree — from a university
  24. chair — a professorship

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