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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cue — a signal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cue — a hint
  5. swing — to play on
  6. field — a subject
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. file — a document
  9. field — for sport
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — low music
  12. foot — a measure
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. field — farmland
  15. swing — in golf
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. swing — music
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. chest — a box
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cue — for pool

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