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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. track — to keep track
  5. track — a song
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. degree — from a university
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — crushed
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. snap — to click
  13. ground — the earth
  14. track — a path
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. degree — temperature
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wind — moving air
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. jam — a tight spot

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