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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. field — for sport
  4. bass — the fish
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. face — to confront
  8. spell — a short time
  9. field — farmland
  10. spell — magic
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. mark — a trace
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. face — part of the head
  16. degree — from a university
  17. dip — to sink
  18. face — to point toward
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. mark — a grade
  21. field — a subject
  22. bass — low music
  23. spell — letters
  24. degree — temperature

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