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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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
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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: straw · wind · leaves · wound · degree · pitcher · field · ground

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. field — for sport
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wound — an injury
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. field — a subject
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wound — an injury
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — an amount
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — moving air
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. degree — temperature

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