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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 120 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. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bulb — for light
  3. rest — a break
  4. degree — temperature
  5. game — a match
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. press — to push
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. degree — from a university
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. game — wild animals
  13. hand — help
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. hand — in cards
  16. field — a subject
  17. press — a publisher
  18. rest — what's left
  19. field — for sport
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bulb — for light
  22. press — newspapers
  23. rest — what's left
  24. field — farmland

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