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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. track — to keep track
  3. content — the amount
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. game — wild animals
  6. content — happy
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. track — a path
  9. file — a line of people
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. degree — an amount
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. game — a match
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. file — a document
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. file — a tool
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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