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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 120 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. squash — the sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. field — farmland
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — a subject
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. dip — to sink
  18. field — for sport
  19. plane — a tool
  20. squash — to crush
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. degree — temperature
  24. sharp — clever

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