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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: pit · file · field · ball · rush · degree · march · content

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pit — a hole
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. pit — in a race
  5. march — music
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. file — a tool
  10. field — a subject
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. field — for sport
  13. march — the month
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. degree — from a university
  16. ball — a great time
  17. ball — a dance
  18. field — farmland
  19. march — the month
  20. content — the amount
  21. rush — hurry
  22. file — a document
  23. degree — an amount
  24. file — a line of people

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