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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. spell — a short time
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bank — for money
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. bank — for money
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. spell — magic
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cap — a hat
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. spell — letters
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bank — of a river
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cap — of ice
  21. field — farmland
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. degree — an amount

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