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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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — a subject
  4. track — a song
  5. field — farmland
  6. degree — from a university
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. field — for sport
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. track — to keep track
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. wound — an injury
  17. present — there
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. present — a gift
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. present — the time now
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. track — a path

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