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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: shower · degree · nail · bound · wake · cue · pitch · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pitch — completely
  5. shower — rain
  6. cue — for pool
  7. cue — a hint
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. degree — temperature
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bound — obliged
  15. field — a subject
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — tied together
  18. cue — a signal
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. degree — from a university
  23. field — for sport
  24. pitch — a sports field

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