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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cold — not warm
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rock — music
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. bear — the animal
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. cell — in biology
  14. ground — the earth
  15. field — for sport
  16. ground — crushed
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. ground — a position
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bear — the animal
  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