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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. track — a path
  3. degree — an amount
  4. clip — for paper
  5. track — to keep track
  6. object — an aim
  7. degree — temperature
  8. clip — to cut
  9. object — a thing
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — of law
  12. object — to protest
  13. tear — to rip
  14. key — in music
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. court — for sport
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. degree — from a university
  22. key — the most important part
  23. band — a music group
  24. track — a song

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