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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: field · mark · game · squash · degree · patient · row · bass

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. field — a subject
  3. degree — temperature
  4. squash — to crush
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. game — wild animals
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. mark — a grade
  9. row — to paddle
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. game — a match
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mark — a trace
  23. bass — the fish
  24. patient — a sick person

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