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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — farmland
  3. vault — a safe
  4. kick — in football
  5. mate — to breed
  6. field — for sport
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mate — a friend
  9. row — to paddle
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. field — a subject
  12. rash — hasty
  13. degree — from a university
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. mate — a partner
  19. row — a line
  20. toast — bread
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. rash — a series

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