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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. present — the time now
  3. wake — a trail
  4. degree — temperature
  5. squash — to crush
  6. present — there
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. tube — the underground
  12. bulb — for light
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. field — for sport
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. squash — the sport
  18. present — a gift
  19. field — a subject
  20. spring — the season
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bulb — for light
  23. degree — from a university
  24. field — farmland

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