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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. can — a tin
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — part of the head
  4. march — the month
  5. field — a subject
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. field — farmland
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a ring
  10. march — the month
  11. field — for sport
  12. march — music
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pass — a permit
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. face — to confront
  18. can — a tin
  19. game — a match
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. can — to be able to
  22. degree — temperature
  23. band — a music group
  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