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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. track — a path
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. bat — the animal
  9. spring — of water
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bank — of a river
  15. spring — a coil
  16. track — a song
  17. spell — letters
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — the season
  21. bank — for money
  22. branch — a division
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bank — for money

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