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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. degree — from a university
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bear — the animal
  6. field — farmland
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — a friend
  11. degree — temperature
  12. key — the most important part
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. field — a subject
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. key — in music
  17. shower — to wash
  18. field — for sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. mate — to breed
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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