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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. ground — crushed
  4. field — farmland
  5. firm — steady
  6. present — there
  7. clip — to cut
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. present — the time now
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — a subject
  13. firm — a company
  14. firm — decided
  15. bear — the animal
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. ground — a position
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. degree — from a university
  20. ground — the earth
  21. present — a gift
  22. degree — an amount
  23. clip — for paper
  24. degree — temperature

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