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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. key — in music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. tube — a container
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. prune — to trim
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bat — the animal
  17. track — to keep track
  18. degree — from a university
  19. key — the most important part
  20. wake — a trail
  21. track — a song
  22. key — for a lock
  23. track — a path
  24. prune — the fruit

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