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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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. track — to keep track
  2. field — for sport
  3. spring — of water
  4. press — a publisher
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. track — a path
  8. spring — the season
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pop — music
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hand — in cards
  13. spring — a coil
  14. field — farmland
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pop — soda
  17. field — a subject
  18. degree — an amount
  19. track — a song
  20. hand — help
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  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