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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. degree — an amount
  3. firm — a company
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — from a university
  10. firm — steady
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. field — for sport
  16. board — to get on
  17. board — a committee
  18. firm — decided
  19. field — a subject
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. field — farmland
  23. content — the amount
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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