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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: bass · pound · straw · club · press · wound · track · degree

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. track — a song
  6. press — a publisher
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — a group
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. press — to push
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. track — a path
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — for dancing
  21. pound — a weight
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. wound — an injury

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