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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. field — for sport
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. field — a subject
  6. fine — all right
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. spell — a short time
  9. sharp — clever
  10. spell — letters
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. spell — magic
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. pitch — completely
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. field — farmland
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wake — a trail
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. fine — high quality

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