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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 116 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. degree — from a university
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. track — a path
  6. content — the amount
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. track — to keep track
  13. degree — an amount
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. file — a tool
  16. content — happy
  17. file — a line of people
  18. degree — temperature
  19. capital — a city
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. capital — money
  22. file — a document
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. fan — a supporter

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