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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. bass — low music
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. game — a match
  8. spell — letters
  9. pitch — completely
  10. lie — to recline
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. degree — from a university
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bass — the fish
  22. game — wild animals
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. spell — a short time

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