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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rest · coach · foot · file · bowl · field · can · degree

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — for sport
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. field — a subject
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. can — a tin
  8. degree — an amount
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. foot — a measure
  12. file — a line of people
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. file — a tool
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. rest — a break
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. degree — from a university
  20. file — a document
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — to be able to
  23. field — farmland
  24. degree — temperature

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