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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wind — moving air
  3. field — a subject
  4. track — a song
  5. track — a path
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — farmland
  9. mark — a trace
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. mark — a grade
  14. field — for sport
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. track — to keep track
  24. tear — from crying

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