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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 116 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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. craft — a skill
  3. degree — temperature
  4. club — a group
  5. swing — to play on
  6. degree — from a university
  7. press — to push
  8. press — newspapers
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. craft — boats
  12. tube — a container
  13. degree — an amount
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. swing — music
  16. press — a publisher
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. tube — the underground
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — for golf
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. swing — in golf

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