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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 116 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. net — in sport
  4. object — an aim
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ground — the earth
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. ground — crushed
  13. degree — from a university
  14. field — farmland
  15. lean — to bend
  16. field — a subject
  17. lean — thin
  18. squash — to crush
  19. object — a thing
  20. ground — a position
  21. wake — a trail
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. lean — to rest against

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