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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. staff — a stick
  8. club — for golf
  9. field — farmland
  10. club — for dancing
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wake — a trail
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. current — electric
  17. tear — from crying
  18. field — a subject
  19. staff — employees
  20. tear — to rip
  21. current — happening now
  22. staff — employees
  23. club — a group
  24. current — of water

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