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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. track — to keep track
  3. march — music
  4. field — farmland
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. degree — from a university
  7. field — a subject
  8. bat — the animal
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spell — letters
  12. track — a song
  13. degree — temperature
  14. march — the month
  15. bore — to tire
  16. spell — magic
  17. march — the month
  18. bore — to drill
  19. field — for sport
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. deal — to handle
  23. track — a path
  24. spell — a short time

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