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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 116 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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Word bank
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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. drill — army training
  3. stand — to bear
  4. degree — an amount
  5. drill — the tool
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. clip — to cut
  9. file — a document
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chair — a leader
  12. kick — in football
  13. track — a song
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. drill — a practice
  16. degree — temperature
  17. track — a path
  18. clip — a video
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. stand — on your feet

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