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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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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. staff — employees
  3. degree — from a university
  4. fine — all right
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. staff — a stick
  7. root — the cause
  8. game — a match
  9. field — for sport
  10. season — of the year
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — a subject
  13. root — of a word
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. pass — a permit
  17. fine — high quality
  18. root — of a plant
  19. field — farmland
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — wild animals
  23. staff — employees
  24. season — in sport

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