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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 120 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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. degree — temperature
  3. capital — a city
  4. pitch — completely
  5. track — to keep track
  6. march — the month
  7. face — to confront
  8. track — a path
  9. face — to point toward
  10. march — the month
  11. field — farmland
  12. face — part of the head
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — for sport
  15. track — a song
  16. capital — money
  17. field — a subject
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pound — a weight
  22. march — music
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pound — for dogs

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