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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fall — to drop
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — army training
  6. field — farmland
  7. tube — a container
  8. bass — low music
  9. hand — in cards
  10. field — for sport
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. tube — the underground
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. hand — help
  18. fall — the season
  19. field — a subject
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bass — the fish
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hand — part of the body

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