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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. mate — a partner
  4. track — a song
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. race — a contest
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. mate — to breed
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. toast — bread
  15. branch — a division
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. roll — a cake
  18. track — a path
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. cold — an illness
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. race — the arms race
  23. roll — a list
  24. race — humankind

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