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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: field · bark · bank · season · roll · degree · dip · game

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bank — for money
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. degree — temperature
  10. season — in sport
  11. roll — a cake
  12. field — a subject
  13. bank — for money
  14. field — farmland
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. roll — a list
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — from a university
  21. season — of the year
  22. bank — of a river
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. game — a match

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