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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fall — to drop
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. saw — the tool
  7. ball — a dance
  8. fall — the season
  9. field — a subject
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — thin
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. fall — to drop
  16. foot — a measure
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ball — a great time
  19. field — farmland
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. field — for sport
  22. prune — to trim
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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