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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 124 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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. key — for a lock
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. lean — to bend
  9. key — the most important part
  10. field — farmland
  11. bass — low music
  12. lean — thin
  13. content — the amount
  14. bound — certain
  15. content — happy
  16. key — in music
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. degree — from a university
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bound — tied together
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — for sport
  23. bass — the fish
  24. field — a subject

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