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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. field — farmland
  7. cap — of ice
  8. vault — a safe
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cap — a hat
  11. degree — temperature
  12. content — the amount
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. court — of law
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. field — for sport
  20. cap — a lid
  21. court — for sport
  22. degree — from a university
  23. court — of a king
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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