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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. degree — temperature
  3. march — the month
  4. bound — tied together
  5. ground — a position
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bound — certain
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. march — music
  11. wound — an injury
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — crushed
  14. track — to keep track
  15. file — a line of people
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bound — obliged
  18. file — a document
  19. track — a song
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a tool
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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