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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mug — a cup
  5. degree — from a university
  6. scale — size or range
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. fork — in a road
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — for sport
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. land — a country
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. field — a subject
  17. mug — a face
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mug — to rob
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. scale — in music
  22. land — ground
  23. land — to come down
  24. spring — the season

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