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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bound — obliged
  3. degree — temperature
  4. row — a line
  5. degree — from a university
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. degree — an amount
  8. file — a tool
  9. hand — help
  10. club — a group
  11. track — a path
  12. club — for golf
  13. bound — tied together
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. row — to paddle
  17. club — for dancing
  18. spell — a short time
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bound — certain
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. track — a song

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