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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 120 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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. march — music
  3. bound — certain
  4. march — the month
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. degree — an amount
  9. spring — the season
  10. row — a line
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bat — the animal
  17. degree — from a university
  18. row — to paddle
  19. spring — of water
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bound — obliged
  22. wax — to grow
  23. degree — temperature
  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