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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. drill — army training
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — farmland
  6. drill — a practice
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. degree — from a university
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. toast — bread
  14. ball — a great time
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mate — to breed
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bass — the fish
  24. mate — a partner

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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