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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. current — electric
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. spring — the season
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. race — a contest
  10. spring — a coil
  11. current — happening now
  12. race — the arms race
  13. file — a document
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. race — humankind
  17. current — of water
  18. stick — to attach or keep to

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