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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. track — a path
  3. cap — of ice
  4. chest — of your body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. track — to keep track
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — a lid
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cap — a hat
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. rash — a series
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pound — a weight
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. field — for sport
  24. chest — of your body

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