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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. track — a path
  3. field — a subject
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. track — a song
  6. rule — government
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — farmland
  9. bulb — for light
  10. field — for sport
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. wound — an injury
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. bulb — for light
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rule — a law
  19. dip — to sink
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. track — to keep track
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hide — animal skin

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