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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. degree — from a university
  3. object — a thing
  4. rock — music
  5. object — an aim
  6. object — to protest
  7. track — a song
  8. track — a path
  9. field — farmland
  10. sharp — clever
  11. file — a tool
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. track — to keep track
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — temperature
  18. field — for sport
  19. degree — an amount
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. file — a document
  24. rock — a stone

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