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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: hand · snap · bulb · degree · drill · toast · cap · field

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. field — for sport
  3. degree — from a university
  4. toast — bread
  5. bulb — for light
  6. field — farmland
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. degree — temperature
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. hand — in cards
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — the tool
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. degree — an amount
  21. hand — help
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — a hat
  24. drill — army training

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