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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kick — in football
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pitch — completely
  9. wound — an injury
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. court — for sport
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. field — farmland
  16. court — of law
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. court — of a king
  19. wound — an injury
  20. field — a subject
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — the fruit
  24. kick — a thrill

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