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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 is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. degree — an amount
  6. field — a subject
  7. hand — help
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. can — a tin
  11. bat — the animal
  12. field — for sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. can — to be able to
  15. degree — temperature
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. field — farmland
  20. degree — from a university
  21. can — a tin
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bark — 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