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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. key — the most important part
  9. date — the fruit
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. key — in music
  13. mine — for digging
  14. club — for golf
  15. key — for a lock
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. club — for dancing
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. club — a group

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