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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. pitch — a sales talk
  2. field — a subject
  3. date — the fruit
  4. wind — moving air
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. track — a path
  7. track — a song
  8. march — the month
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. degree — an amount
  12. march — the month
  13. pit — in a race
  14. march — music
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. field — farmland
  17. pit — a hole
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. field — for sport
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. track — to keep track
  23. degree — from a university
  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