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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. degree — temperature
  3. court — of a king
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. band — a music group
  6. field — for sport
  7. degree — from a university
  8. root — the cause
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. court — for sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. snap — to click
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. fall — the season
  16. degree — an amount
  17. fall — to drop
  18. root — of a word
  19. fall — to drop
  20. root — of a plant
  21. band — a ring
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — of law
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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