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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bound — certain
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — temperature
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. bound — tied together
  8. dip — to sink
  9. mark — a trace
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bound — obliged
  12. field — farmland
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. key — the most important part
  15. squash — to crush
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. key — in music
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. field — for sport
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mark — a grade
  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