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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. foot — a measure
  5. rash — hasty
  6. key — for a lock
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. swing — to play on
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. key — in music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — a subject
  13. bark — to shout
  14. degree — an amount
  15. swing — in golf
  16. field — for sport
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. swing — music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. key — the most important part

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