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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. field — farmland
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pitch — completely
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. tear — to rip
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. degree — temperature
  19. field — a subject
  20. ground — crushed
  21. field — for sport
  22. drill — a practice
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. lie — to recline

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