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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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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. court — of a king
  4. pop — music
  5. degree — from a university
  6. track — a song
  7. press — to push
  8. season — of the year
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — of law
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. pop — to visit
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. season — in sport
  15. court — for sport
  16. track — a path
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. press — newspapers
  21. pop — soda
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. degree — temperature
  24. press — a publisher

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