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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. spell — letters
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. drill — the tool
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — help
  13. craft — boats
  14. degree — temperature
  15. craft — a skill
  16. firm — a company
  17. bark — to shout
  18. field — farmland
  19. spell — a short time
  20. firm — decided
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — in cards
  23. field — for sport
  24. firm — steady

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