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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. degree — an amount
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. tube — a container
  6. deal — to handle
  7. pit — in a race
  8. clip — a video
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. tube — the underground
  17. clip — for paper
  18. pit — a hole
  19. lie — to recline
  20. degree — from a university
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. degree — temperature
  24. lie — an untruth

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