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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mug — a cup
  3. field — for sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mug — a face
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. degree — an amount
  8. saw — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. clip — a video
  11. mug — to rob
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. season — of the year
  15. field — a subject
  16. saw — the tool
  17. season — in sport
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. drill — army training
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. clip — to cut
  24. drill — the tool

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