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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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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: track · club · tear · tube · coach · file · date · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a document
  4. track — a path
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — for golf
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. tube — a container
  9. track — to keep track
  10. degree — temperature
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. track — a song
  16. date — the fruit
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. tear — from crying
  19. degree — an amount
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. tear — to rip
  23. file — a tool
  24. club — a group

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