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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. field — farmland
  6. root — of a word
  7. root — of a plant
  8. track — a song
  9. root — the cause
  10. land — a country
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. field — for sport
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. degree — temperature
  18. band — a ring
  19. land — to come down
  20. field — a subject
  21. band — a music group
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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