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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. march — the month
  3. field — farmland
  4. perch — the fish
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — the month
  7. club — for dancing
  8. shower — rain
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. club — for golf
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. field — for sport
  17. march — music
  18. club — a group
  19. field — a subject
  20. shower — to wash
  21. degree — temperature
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. mine — for digging

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