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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: rush · field · wound · foot · fan · hand · degree · cue

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cue — a hint
  3. field — farmland
  4. cue — a signal
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. hand — help
  8. rush — hurry
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. degree — an amount
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — from a university
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. wound — an injury
  17. foot — a measure
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. cue — for pool
  21. degree — temperature
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. fan — a supporter

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