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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spell — letters
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. band — a music group
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — a match
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spell — magic
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. game — wild animals
  16. field — farmland
  17. pound — a weight
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. branch — a division
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. field — for sport
  22. band — a ring
  23. degree — temperature
  24. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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