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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. track — a path
  3. content — the amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bass — low music
  6. fall — to drop
  7. degree — from a university
  8. squash — to crush
  9. rest — what's left
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. content — happy
  13. bass — the fish
  14. squash — the sport
  15. wake — a trail
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rest — a break
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. fall — the season
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. track — a song
  22. rest — what's left
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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