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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · degree · date · land · vault · arm · content · bass

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. degree — an amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — ground
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bass — low music
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. land — to come down
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. bass — the fish
  15. vault — a safe
  16. content — the amount
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. content — happy
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. degree — from a university
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. date — the fruit
  24. land — a country

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