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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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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. march — music
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. degree — temperature
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — of a king
  9. craft — a skill
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. deal — to handle
  12. craft — boats
  13. bear — the animal
  14. degree — from a university
  15. march — the month
  16. field — a subject
  17. court — for sport
  18. field — for sport
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. march — the month
  23. court — of law
  24. bear — the animal

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