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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — from a university
  5. ball — a dance
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. scale — size or range
  8. row — a line
  9. field — farmland
  10. shower — rain
  11. field — for sport
  12. row — to paddle
  13. degree — an amount
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. drill — army training
  17. degree — temperature
  18. spell — letters
  19. drill — a practice
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a great time
  24. shower — to wash

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