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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 116 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. track — to keep track
  3. degree — an amount
  4. land — to come down
  5. track — a song
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. degree — from a university
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. land — ground
  10. track — a path
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. branch — a division
  14. stock — goods
  15. club — a group
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. land — a country
  18. wax — to grow
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — for dancing
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — a contest
  24. branch — of a tree

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