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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. degree — an amount
  4. charge — in control
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — in biology
  7. charge — a price
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. charge — electricity
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. field — a subject
  12. tube — a container
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bat — the animal
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. field — for sport
  19. tube — the underground
  20. bark — to shout
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cell — a phone
  23. field — farmland
  24. bat — for 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