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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. foot — a measure
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pitch — completely
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pound — a weight
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. field — a subject
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — from a university

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