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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 · wave · cell · last · degree · land · firm · fall

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — an amount
  6. field — for sport
  7. fall — to drop
  8. firm — steady
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. last — final
  11. fall — to drop
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — a company
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. field — farmland
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fall — the season
  21. degree — temperature
  22. land — a country
  23. degree — from a university
  24. land — ground

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