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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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — a subject
  6. cue — a signal
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. cue — for pool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. field — for sport
  15. lie — to recline
  16. file — a tool
  17. bass — the fish
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — from a university
  20. spell — letters
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. field — farmland
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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