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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: stand · pop · bound · degree · field · cold · bark · craft

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. craft — a skill
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bound — tied together
  8. pop — soda
  9. field — a subject
  10. bound — certain
  11. field — farmland
  12. pop — to visit
  13. stand — to bear
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. craft — boats
  17. pop — music
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. bound — obliged
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. craft — a handicraft

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