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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: drill · mark · field · stem · roll · date · track · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mark — a trace
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — the tool
  7. date — the fruit
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. field — farmland
  11. mark — a grade
  12. field — for sport
  13. roll — a cake
  14. track — a song
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. track — to keep track
  17. degree — temperature
  18. drill — a practice
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. stem — to come from
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. field — a subject
  23. roll — a list
  24. track — a path

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