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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. drill — army training
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. scale — size or range
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. field — farmland
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. field — a subject
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. drill — the tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. degree — from a university
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. scale — in music

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