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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. plane — a tool
  4. chip — for betting
  5. last — final
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. degree — from a university
  9. field — for sport
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. field — farmland
  12. chip — to eat
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. last — to go on
  16. field — a subject
  17. prune — to trim
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. last — finally
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. degree — temperature

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