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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 · bowl · degree · pound · toast · pitcher · lie

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. field — farmland
  4. kid — child
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. lie — to recline
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. pound — a weight
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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