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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. march — the month
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bass — the fish
  6. spring — a coil
  7. march — the month
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. bass — low music
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. degree — temperature
  18. saw — the tool
  19. court — for sport
  20. march — music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. saw — the tool
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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