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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. swing — music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. track — a song
  6. rash — a series
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. cell — in biology
  11. track — a path
  12. field — a subject
  13. rash — hasty
  14. field — for sport
  15. perch — the fish
  16. rule — a law
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — in golf
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rule — government
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cell — a phone
  23. track — to keep track
  24. perch — for a bird

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