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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: court · drill · bark · track · cold · safe · band · degree

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. drill — army training
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cold — an illness
  7. track — a song
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. track — a path
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. drill — a practice
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. degree — from a university
  19. band — a ring
  20. court — of law
  21. band — a music group
  22. drill — the tool
  23. track — to keep track
  24. band — a rubber band

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