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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: wake · board · key · field · hand · degree · pit · trunk

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — for sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. key — in music
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — the most important part
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. hand — help
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wake — a trail
  14. board — to get on
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. field — a subject
  17. pit — in a race
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pit — a hole
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. board — a committee
  22. field — farmland
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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