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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: row · court · tube · field · fork · swing · degree · mug

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. row — to paddle
  3. swing — music
  4. field — a subject
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. swing — in golf
  8. fork — in a road
  9. court — of a king
  10. tube — a container
  11. field — for sport
  12. degree — from a university
  13. field — farmland
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. degree — temperature
  17. swing — to play on
  18. mug — to rob
  19. tube — the underground
  20. mug — a cup
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. mug — a face

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