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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: racket · present · cold · degree · straw · bear · spell · field

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cold — not warm
  5. present — the time now
  6. spell — magic
  7. degree — from a university
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bear — the animal
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. degree — an amount
  12. spell — letters
  13. cold — an illness
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bear — the animal
  18. field — farmland
  19. present — there
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — temperature
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. present — a gift
  24. field — for sport

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