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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. stem — to come from
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. content — the amount
  5. track — a path
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. track — a song
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. land — ground
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. straw — dry grass

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