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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.

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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: rock · field · game · degree · squash · sharp · saw · arm

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. field — for sport
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. rock — music
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — a match
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. sharp — clever
  13. degree — an amount
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. squash — to crush
  19. degree — temperature
  20. field — farmland
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — to move gently
  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