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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. field — for sport
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. track — to keep track
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. bass — the fish
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — a subject
  17. track — a path
  18. wound — an injury
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bat — the animal
  21. track — a song
  22. bass — low music
  23. field — farmland
  24. degree — from a university

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