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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 120 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a song
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. shower — rain
  8. cell — a phone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cap — a lid
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cap — of ice
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cell — in biology
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. fine — high quality
  21. track — a path
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lie — to recline
  24. cap — a hat

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