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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. hand — help
  3. march — the month
  4. staff — employees
  5. track — to keep track
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. stand — to bear
  11. track — a path
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. staff — employees
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. march — music
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. staff — a stick
  19. race — a contest
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — the arms race
  24. march — the month

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