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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. file — a line of people
  3. field — farmland
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. ground — the earth
  7. file — a document
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. bass — low music
  10. field — for sport
  11. bass — the fish
  12. field — a subject
  13. ground — crushed
  14. file — a tool
  15. ground — a position
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. perch — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wave — of the sea

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