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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. land — to come down
  3. prune — to trim
  4. land — a country
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bass — low music
  8. file — a document
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. field — for sport
  11. prune — to trim
  12. degree — an amount
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bass — the fish
  15. field — a subject
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. degree — from a university
  19. field — farmland
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. file — a tool
  23. land — ground
  24. degree — temperature

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