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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. file — a line of people
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. march — the month
  8. degree — temperature
  9. file — a tool
  10. bank — for money
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bank — for money
  14. shower — rain
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. bank — of a river
  17. degree — from a university
  18. file — a document
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. stand — to bear
  21. field — farmland
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. field — for sport

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