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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mug — a cup
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. field — for sport
  5. mug — to rob
  6. bound — tied together
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mug — a face
  13. pop — music
  14. field — farmland
  15. pop — soda
  16. degree — an amount
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pop — to visit
  21. field — a subject
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — certain

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