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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. degree — an amount
  4. swing — to play on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. field — farmland
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. firm — decided
  11. firm — a company
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. kid — child
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. degree — from a university
  17. branch — a division
  18. swing — music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chair — a leader
  23. firm — steady
  24. field — a subject

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