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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. spell — letters
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. mine — for digging
  7. current — happening now
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. spell — magic
  11. squash — the sport
  12. current — of water
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. squash — to crush
  16. degree — from a university
  17. spell — a short time
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. degree — an amount
  21. field — farmland
  22. current — electric
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. calf — a young 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