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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. degree — from a university
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — a subject
  5. suit — in cards
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. spring — of water
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tube — a container
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mark — a grade
  16. suit — clothes
  17. field — for sport
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. field — farmland
  20. mark — a trace
  21. file — a document
  22. spring — the season
  23. suit — to fit
  24. tube — in a tire

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