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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 116 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. degree — from a university
  3. land — a country
  4. bound — certain
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pit — a hole
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — for sport
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pit — in a race
  13. field — farmland
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. degree — an amount
  19. ball — a great time
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bound — obliged
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bound — tied together
  24. field — a subject

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