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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. degree — from a university
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — humankind
  6. perch — the fish
  7. mark — a trace
  8. staff — employees
  9. race — the arms race
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. field — for sport
  13. hand — help
  14. degree — temperature
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — an amount
  19. staff — employees
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. field — a subject
  22. hand — in cards
  23. staff — a stick
  24. court — of a king

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