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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. deal — to handle
  7. band — a music group
  8. field — a subject
  9. prune — to trim
  10. march — the month
  11. swing — music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. swing — in golf
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. field — for sport
  16. march — music
  17. swing — to play on
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. prune — to trim
  21. march — the month
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. band — a ring
  24. bat — the animal

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