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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. degree — an amount
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. court — for sport
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. land — a country
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. land — ground
  14. track — to keep track
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. track — a path
  17. land — to come down
  18. degree — from a university
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. wake — a trail
  21. court — of a king
  22. degree — temperature
  23. court — of law
  24. arm — part of the body

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