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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. net — in sport
  6. saw — the tool
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. net — for catching
  10. ground — a position
  11. lean — to bend
  12. field — for sport
  13. shower — rain
  14. degree — temperature
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. ground — the earth
  17. net — after costs
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. ground — crushed
  21. saw — the tool
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. shower — to wash

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