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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. track — a path
  3. degree — temperature
  4. chest — of your body
  5. track — a song
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. chest — a box
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bat — the animal
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. track — to keep track
  12. staff — employees
  13. fine — all right
  14. degree — an amount
  15. fine — high quality
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. roll — a list
  18. degree — from a university
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. kid — child
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chest — of your body
  23. roll — a cake
  24. staff — a stick

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