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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. ground — a position
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ground — crushed
  6. scale — size or range
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. ground — the earth
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. roll — a cake
  14. court — for sport
  15. track — to keep track
  16. chest — a box
  17. degree — from a university
  18. scale — in music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. roll — a list
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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