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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. field — farmland
  3. spring — of water
  4. degree — an amount
  5. swing — music
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. spring — a coil
  10. field — for sport
  11. spring — the season
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. row — a line
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. degree — temperature
  16. saw — the tool
  17. row — to paddle
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. swing — in golf
  20. saw — the tool
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. vault — a safe
  23. swing — to play on
  24. field — a subject

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