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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hand — in cards
  3. field — for sport
  4. march — the month
  5. mate — to breed
  6. last — final
  7. march — the month
  8. last — finally
  9. pit — in a race
  10. field — a subject
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. pit — a hole
  15. march — music
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. field — farmland
  20. mate — a partner
  21. last — to go on
  22. mate — a friend
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. hand — help

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