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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bear — the animal
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. bear — the animal
  8. degree — temperature
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. degree — from a university
  11. field — for sport
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. band — a music group
  14. wound — an injury
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. band — a ring
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. field — a subject
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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