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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. can — a tin
  4. track — to keep track
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — to be able to
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. field — for sport
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. degree — temperature
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. ball — a great time
  19. plane — a tool
  20. field — farmland
  21. wind — moving air
  22. field — a subject
  23. stem — to come from
  24. wind — moving air

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