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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. degree — from a university
  3. field — a subject
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. field — farmland
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. degree — an amount
  12. foot — a measure
  13. tube — the underground
  14. snap — to click
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pop — to visit
  17. stand — to bear
  18. degree — temperature
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. field — for sport
  22. row — a line
  23. tube — a container
  24. row — to paddle

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