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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. march — music
  6. ball — a dance
  7. track — a song
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. track — a path
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. drill — army training
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. deal — to handle
  16. march — the month
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. ball — a great time
  19. degree — an amount
  20. march — the month
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. chair — a leader
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — the tool

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