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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · degree · bulb · tear · cell · bowl

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. field — a subject
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cell — in biology
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cell — a phone
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — to rip
  14. degree — an amount
  15. field — farmland
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying

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