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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. degree — an amount
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. degree — from a university
  7. field — for sport
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. field — a subject
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. degree — temperature
  12. branch — a division
  13. chair — a leader
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. drill — army training
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. drill — a practice
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. foot — a measure
  21. sharp — clever
  22. field — farmland
  23. drill — the tool
  24. branch — of a tree

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