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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. file — a document
  4. field — a subject
  5. bass — low music
  6. snap — to click
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. file — a line of people
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. field — farmland
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ball — a great time
  16. degree — an amount
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bass — the fish
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. file — a tool
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ball — a dance
  24. fan — to cool the air

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