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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. file — a tool
  4. court — of a king
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. degree — temperature
  7. snap — to click
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. court — for sport
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. band — a ring
  14. degree — an amount
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. file — a line of people
  17. band — a music group
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. file — a document
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. degree — from a university
  24. branch — a division

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