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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 116 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: degree · bark · content · staff · present · band · bay · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. staff — employees
  3. field — for sport
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. present — a gift
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. staff — a stick
  11. content — happy
  12. field — a subject
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. staff — employees
  17. band — a ring
  18. present — the time now
  19. content — the amount
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. present — there
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. band — a music group

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