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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wake — a trail
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rash — a series
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — a stone
  10. bark — to shout
  11. degree — from a university
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. field — a subject
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — for sport
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rash — hasty

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