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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pop — soda
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a music group
  8. rush — hurry
  9. court — of a king
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. degree — from a university
  15. track — a path
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — temperature
  18. court — for sport
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. court — of law
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pop — music
  24. track — to keep track

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