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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 · bowl · mate · degree · lash · pop · chair · wave

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. mate — a friend
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. pop — music
  7. chair — a leader
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. mate — to breed
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. pop — soda
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. pop — to visit
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. field — farmland

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