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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. pass — a permit
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. object — an aim
  5. season — of the year
  6. object — to protest
  7. object — a thing
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. field — a subject
  10. degree — temperature
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. season — in sport
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. arm — a part of something

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