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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. degree — from a university
  5. field — for sport
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cold — not warm
  8. field — farmland
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. field — a subject
  13. bark — to shout
  14. degree — an amount
  15. track — a song
  16. track — a path
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bark — of a tree

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