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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 · ball · degree · fall · rest · staff · last · wound

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ball — a dance
  3. wound — an injury
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — from a university
  7. last — finally
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. staff — employees
  10. ball — a great time
  11. last — to go on
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. rest — what's left
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. degree — an amount
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — a subject

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