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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. craft — a skill
  3. degree — temperature
  4. field — a subject
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. craft — boats
  7. field — farmland
  8. bass — the fish
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. degree — from a university
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pass — a permit
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. sharp — clever
  21. degree — an amount
  22. field — for sport
  23. mark — a trace
  24. foot — a measure

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