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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. bass — low music
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. present — the time now
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. dip — to sink
  8. shower — rain
  9. deal — to handle
  10. present — there
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. present — a gift
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. shower — to wash
  15. field — a subject
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. bass — the fish
  20. swing — music
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. swing — in golf

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