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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — an amount
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — for dancing
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. spell — a short time
  11. lean — to bend
  12. lean — thin
  13. degree — temperature
  14. date — the fruit
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. field — farmland
  17. spell — magic
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. club — a group
  20. field — for sport
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. field — a subject
  23. spell — letters
  24. date — on the calendar

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