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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
468
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: coach · degree · bowl · chest · court · field · dip · rash

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. field — a subject
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — farmland
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. degree — from a university
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. dip — to sink
  16. chest — a box
  17. field — for sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. court — of law
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rash — hasty
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rash — a series
  24. dip — to dunk

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