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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. net — for catching
  7. cue — for pool
  8. content — happy
  9. degree — from a university
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cue — a hint
  15. degree — temperature
  16. content — the amount
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cue — a signal
  19. track — to keep track
  20. net — in sport
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. net — after costs

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