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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. chest — of your body
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. field — a subject
  9. chest — of your body
  10. perch — the fish
  11. march — music
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — to trim
  14. march — the month
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. prune — to trim
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. degree — temperature
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — a box

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