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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pitch — completely
  8. field — a subject
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. bat — the animal
  21. content — the amount
  22. field — farmland
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cabinet — ministers

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