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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 116 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. field — farmland
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wake — a trail
  10. degree — from a university
  11. field — for sport
  12. last — to go on
  13. scale — size or range
  14. pit — in a race
  15. scale — in music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bark — to shout
  20. swing — music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — a subject
  23. pit — a hole
  24. last — final

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