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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. track — a path
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. track — a song
  5. key — for a lock
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. ground — crushed
  9. scale — in music
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — the earth
  12. key — the most important part
  13. scale — size or range
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. ground — a position
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. degree — an amount
  21. net — after costs
  22. key — in music
  23. track — to keep track
  24. scale — for weighing

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