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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. degree — from a university
  3. track — a song
  4. file — a document
  5. swing — music
  6. track — a path
  7. swing — to play on
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. swing — in golf
  11. land — ground
  12. degree — temperature
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — to shout
  21. toast — bread
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. file — a tool
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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