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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: bulb · field · ground · dip · degree · sharp · land · saw

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. ground — a position
  3. field — for sport
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. field — a subject
  9. saw — the tool
  10. land — ground
  11. dip — to sink
  12. bulb — for light
  13. ground — crushed
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bulb — for light
  16. degree — an amount
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — farmland
  19. degree — from a university
  20. land — to come down
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — clever
  23. ground — the earth
  24. land — a country

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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