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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: degree · chest · pound · bat · bulb · coach · field · present

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. bat — the animal
  3. field — for sport
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. present — the time now
  6. degree — from a university
  7. field — a subject
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. present — a gift
  11. bulb — for light
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bulb — for light
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. present — there
  21. pound — a weight
  22. degree — an amount
  23. chest — of your body
  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