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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 120 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 · degree · bass · prune · pit · sharp · fine · content

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the fish
  4. field — for sport
  5. pit — in a race
  6. field — a subject
  7. fine — all right
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. pit — a hole
  11. bass — low music
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. content — happy
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. sharp — clever
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. content — the amount
  22. fine — high quality
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. degree — an amount

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