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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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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 · kid · degree · content · rest · fan · bay · perch

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. rest — a break
  4. degree — temperature
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rest — what's left
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. content — happy
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. field — for sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. perch — the fish
  17. field — a subject
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kid — child
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — from a university
  24. content — the amount

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