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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. track — a path
  6. game — a match
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. track — a song
  10. fine — all right
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. lie — to recline
  15. march — the month
  16. degree — temperature
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. game — wild animals
  19. march — music
  20. fine — high quality
  21. track — to keep track
  22. march — the month
  23. content — happy
  24. season — of the year

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