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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. band — a music group
  3. track — a path
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. band — a ring
  7. degree — an amount
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. track — a song
  10. branch — a division
  11. spring — of water
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. spring — the season
  16. vault — a safe
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bat — the animal
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. spring — a coil
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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