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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. roll — a cake
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. field — for sport
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. field — a subject
  10. track — a path
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. bat — the animal
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. track — a song
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. roll — a list
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. field — farmland

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