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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mug — a face
  3. board — a committee
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. field — for sport
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. board — to get on
  8. key — the most important part
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bass — low music
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cold — an illness
  14. degree — an amount
  15. field — farmland
  16. key — in music
  17. key — for a lock
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bass — the fish
  20. vault — a safe
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. mug — to rob

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