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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pop — music
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. ball — a dance
  7. shower — to wash
  8. degree — temperature
  9. field — a subject
  10. pop — soda
  11. saw — the tool
  12. field — farmland
  13. ball — a great time
  14. degree — from a university
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. shower — rain
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pop — to visit
  22. field — for sport
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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