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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — from a university
  5. swing — to play on
  6. field — for sport
  7. swing — in golf
  8. row — to paddle
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tube — the underground
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. tube — a container
  14. row — a line
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. swing — music
  19. field — farmland
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. prune — to trim

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