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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — to breed
  4. tear — from crying
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. march — the month
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. degree — temperature
  12. march — music
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bound — obliged
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — a partner
  18. can — a tin
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. can — a tin
  23. wind — moving air
  24. can — to be able to

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