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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. ball — a great time
  5. field — for sport
  6. file — a line of people
  7. foot — a measure
  8. field — a subject
  9. club — a group
  10. file — a document
  11. club — for golf
  12. bound — tied together
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. file — a tool
  17. ball — a dance
  18. game — a match
  19. bound — certain
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bound — obliged
  22. degree — from a university
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. club — for dancing

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