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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 120 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. degree — from a university
  3. court — for sport
  4. track — a path
  5. spell — magic
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. pound — a weight
  9. track — to keep track
  10. spell — a short time
  11. degree — temperature
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. court — of a king
  14. deal — to handle
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. content — happy
  19. drill — a practice
  20. court — of law
  21. spell — letters
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. deal — a big deal

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