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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pop — music
  5. saw — the tool
  6. net — after costs
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — farmland
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. net — for catching
  12. saw — the tool
  13. file — a document
  14. suit — to fit
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. net — in sport
  18. suit — clothes
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. file — a line of people
  21. suit — in cards
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — in football

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