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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: file · squash · net · pitch · degree · bark · spring · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. net — after costs
  3. spring — of water
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. degree — an amount
  6. squash — the sport
  7. file — a tool
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spring — the season
  11. file — a line of people
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — a coil
  15. squash — to crush
  16. track — a path
  17. bark — to shout
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. file — a document
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. pitch — completely
  23. degree — temperature
  24. track — a song

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