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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 120 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: trunk · deal · degree · board · march · hand · fine · field

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. march — the month
  3. field — for sport
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. fine — all right
  6. hand — help
  7. march — music
  8. board — to get on
  9. field — farmland
  10. degree — temperature
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. board — a committee
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. degree — an amount
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — from a university
  17. deal — to handle
  18. fine — high quality
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. march — the month
  21. field — a subject
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. hand — in cards
  24. fine — a penalty

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