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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. season — of the year
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. tube — a container
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. tube — the underground
  8. season — in sport
  9. ball — a dance
  10. game — wild animals
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. ball — a great time
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. field — for sport
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. field — farmland
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. field — a subject
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. degree — an amount
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. game — a match

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