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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. track — to keep track
  5. track — a path
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. track — a song
  9. suit — in cards
  10. degree — from a university
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. suit — to fit
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. field — farmland
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bark — to shout
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. suit — clothes
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bark — of a tree

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