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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 116 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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fine — high quality
  4. field — for sport
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. field — farmland
  9. scale — in music
  10. chip — for betting
  11. row — a line
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. fine — all right
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. row — to paddle
  21. field — a subject
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. row — a quarrel

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