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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. degree — an amount
  10. field — farmland
  11. pound — a weight
  12. field — for sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — for money
  18. race — a contest
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. race — the arms race
  21. field — a subject
  22. race — humankind
  23. bank — of a river
  24. wind — to turn a key

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