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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · degree · rest · field · ground · object · bat · cabinet

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. rest — a break
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — farmland
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bat — the animal
  10. field — a subject
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. object — an aim
  13. degree — an amount
  14. row — to paddle
  15. field — for sport
  16. row — a line
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — to protest
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rest — what's left
  23. degree — from a university
  24. ground — a position

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