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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 124 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bore — to drill
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. field — farmland
  6. degree — temperature
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. cap — a lid
  9. snap — to click
  10. lean — thin
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bore — to tire
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. cap — of ice
  16. degree — from a university
  17. court — of law
  18. court — of a king
  19. field — for sport
  20. lean — to bend
  21. court — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wake — a trail

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