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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 · hide · kid · can · degree · saw

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. field — a subject
  3. degree — an amount
  4. can — a tin
  5. can — to be able to
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. field — for sport
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. can — a tin
  16. kid — to tease
  17. field — farmland
  18. saw — the tool

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