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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. field — a subject
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. band — a music group
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. shower — to wash
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — music
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. field — farmland
  16. pop — to visit
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wake — a trail
  20. deal — to handle
  21. shower — rain
  22. band — a ring
  23. field — for sport
  24. degree — an amount

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