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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: game · degree · track · pound · cap · field · spring · mouse

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cap — a lid
  5. track — to keep track
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. field — farmland
  8. spring — the season
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. degree — temperature
  11. track — a path
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. cap — of ice
  15. degree — from a university
  16. game — a match
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. track — a song
  19. field — a subject
  20. game — wild animals
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — an amount
  23. cap — a hat
  24. field — for sport

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