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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: bowl · bank · arm · degree · mine · field · content · saw

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bank — for money
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. degree — temperature
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bank — for money
  13. degree — an amount
  14. field — for sport
  15. content — happy
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. field — farmland
  18. saw — the tool
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bank — of a river
  21. mine — for digging
  22. content — the amount
  23. field — a subject
  24. arm — part of the body

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