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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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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: suit · mark · race · band · degree · field · jam · spring

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. degree — from a university
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. field — a subject
  7. spring — of water
  8. mark — a trace
  9. degree — temperature
  10. suit — to fit
  11. suit — in cards
  12. field — for sport
  13. race — humankind
  14. suit — clothes
  15. mark — a grade
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. spring — a coil
  18. band — a ring
  19. spring — the season
  20. field — farmland
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. band — a music group

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