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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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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — not warm
  3. track — a song
  4. firm — a company
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — an illness
  13. track — a path
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — final
  17. firm — steady
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bass — low music
  21. last — finally
  22. bass — the fish
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. firm — decided

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