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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 120 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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. swing — in golf
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. press — a publisher
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bat — the animal
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. field — for sport
  15. swing — music
  16. press — newspapers
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. field — farmland
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. field — a subject
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. press — to push
  24. fork — to eat with

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