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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. mate — to breed
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. mate — a friend
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. vault — a safe
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. mate — a partner
  9. degree — an amount
  10. net — after costs
  11. field — farmland
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — from a university
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. pit — a hole
  17. net — for catching
  18. field — a subject
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. degree — temperature
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. pit — in a race
  23. sharp — clever
  24. field — for sport

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