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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fall — to drop
  3. track — a path
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bound — tied together
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — certain
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. track — a song
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. track — to keep track
  20. wake — a trail
  21. stem — to come from
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. lash — an eyelash

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