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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: track · degree · arm · craft · wound · field · face · march

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wound — an injury
  4. field — a subject
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. track — to keep track
  9. degree — from a university
  10. march — the month
  11. craft — boats
  12. craft — a skill
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wound — an injury
  15. track — a song
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. field — farmland
  18. face — part of the head
  19. march — music
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. face — to confront
  22. field — for sport
  23. track — a path
  24. degree — temperature

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