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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. shower — to wash
  3. track — a path
  4. degree — temperature
  5. track — a song
  6. clip — to cut
  7. key — the most important part
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. key — for a lock
  10. clip — a video
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. scale — in music
  13. branch — a division
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. degree — from a university
  16. clip — for paper
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. scale — size or range
  22. key — in music
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. degree — an amount

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