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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: staff · arm · field · stick · degree · wind · fan · cap

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. field — farmland
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. field — a subject
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. field — for sport
  12. staff — employees
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. degree — an amount
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. cap — a lid
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. degree — temperature
  19. staff — a stick
  20. staff — employees
  21. cap — a hat
  22. wind — moving air
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cap — of ice

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