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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 116 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. degree — temperature
  4. drill — a practice
  5. degree — from a university
  6. row — a line
  7. object — an aim
  8. field — a subject
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. drill — army training
  11. object — a thing
  12. row — to paddle
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. file — a document
  15. last — to go on
  16. field — farmland
  17. last — final
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. object — to protest
  20. dip — to sink
  21. file — a line of people
  22. drill — the tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. last — finally

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