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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mark — a trace
  3. degree — an amount
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — farmland
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pit — in a race
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. fork — in a road
  10. swing — to play on
  11. mark — a grade
  12. swing — in golf
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. field — a subject
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. field — for sport
  21. pit — a hole
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. swing — music

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