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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. snap — to click
  3. track — to keep track
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. track — a song
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. hand — in cards
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. tube — a container
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. hand — help
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. tube — the underground
  21. degree — temperature
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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