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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 116 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. fall — to drop
  3. prune — to trim
  4. track — a song
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. ground — the earth
  8. chip — to eat
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. track — a path
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — not warm
  14. march — the month
  15. prune — to trim
  16. ground — a position
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. fall — to drop
  22. chip — for betting
  23. march — music
  24. hide — animal skin

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