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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · rush · cell · degree · court · track · key · saw

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. key — the most important part
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cell — a phone
  8. key — in music
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. court — of law
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. saw — the tool
  14. degree — temperature
  15. track — a path
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. court — of a king
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. degree — an amount
  22. key — for a lock
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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