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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. mark — a grade
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. mark — a trace
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. degree — an amount
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. degree — from a university
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. field — farmland
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. prune — to trim
  19. degree — temperature
  20. field — for sport
  21. wound — an injury
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wound — an injury
  24. trunk — of a car

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