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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: row · rash · key · degree · track · pound · tear · spring

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. track — a song
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pound — a weight
  9. degree — an amount
  10. key — for a lock
  11. row — a line
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spring — the season
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. degree — from a university
  16. key — in music
  17. track — a path
  18. tear — to rip
  19. spring — of water
  20. track — to keep track
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. row — to paddle
  23. key — the most important part
  24. spring — a coil

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