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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. field — a subject
  5. spell — magic
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. degree — an amount
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. field — farmland
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. field — for sport
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. degree — from a university
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. ball — a great time
  22. fork — in a road
  23. root — of a plant
  24. fork — a garden tool

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