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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: saw · field · tear · mark · degree · spell · bat · track

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mark — a trace
  4. tear — from crying
  5. track — a path
  6. mark — a grade
  7. track — to keep track
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. spell — letters
  11. degree — an amount
  12. field — a subject
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. field — farmland
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. track — a song
  18. spell — magic
  19. degree — temperature
  20. tear — to rip
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. field — for sport
  24. tear — from crying

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