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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lie — to recline
  3. chest — of your body
  4. degree — from a university
  5. can — a tin
  6. field — for sport
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. chest — of your body
  9. scale — size or range
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. field — farmland
  12. can — to be able to
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. scale — in music
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — hurry
  19. field — a subject
  20. can — a tin
  21. chest — a box
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. degree — temperature

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