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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mate — a friend
  3. track — a path
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. track — to keep track
  7. spring — of water
  8. fine — high quality
  9. degree — temperature
  10. craft — boats
  11. mate — a partner
  12. craft — a skill
  13. spring — the season
  14. mate — to breed
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fine — all right
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. degree — an amount
  19. land — ground
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. track — a song
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fine — a penalty

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