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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: march · field · club · degree · rush · rest · deal · row

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. club — for dancing
  3. degree — an amount
  4. row — a line
  5. field — a subject
  6. club — for golf
  7. rest — a break
  8. rush — hurry
  9. march — the month
  10. row — to paddle
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. club — a group
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — farmland

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