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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. field — for sport
  3. land — ground
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cue — for pool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. tear — from crying
  9. field — a subject
  10. cue — a hint
  11. cap — a hat
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — an aim
  14. degree — from a university
  15. field — farmland
  16. cap — a lid
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. object — to protest
  20. tear — to rip
  21. land — a country
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. cue — a signal

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