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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cold — not warm
  3. track — a path
  4. degree — from a university
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. degree — temperature
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. staff — a stick
  12. staff — employees
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. track — a song
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. staff — employees
  17. rest — a break
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. rest — what's left
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. bark — to shout
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. track — to keep track

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