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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  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. lean — thin
  3. field — for sport
  4. bulb — for light
  5. tube — the underground
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. field — farmland
  8. kick — in football
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. bulb — for light
  14. lean — to bend
  15. last — to go on
  16. degree — from a university
  17. last — finally
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. last — final
  20. tube — a container
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. degree — temperature
  23. kick — with a leg
  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