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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. field — for sport
  8. hand — help
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bear — the animal
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bear — the animal
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. hand — in cards
  16. perch — the fish
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. game — a match
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. ground — crushed

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