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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: calf · stand · spring · degree · fan · field · clip · tear

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. field — for sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stand — to bear
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — an amount
  9. field — a subject
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. spring — the season
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. tear — to rip
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — of water
  19. field — farmland
  20. clip — to cut
  21. spring — a coil
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. calf — a young animal

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