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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wound — an injury
  4. squash — the sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — the underground
  10. pop — music
  11. track — a path
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. field — a subject
  14. track — to keep track
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wound — an injury
  17. squash — to crush
  18. pop — soda
  19. track — a song
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. pop — to visit

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