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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. ground — a position
  3. track — a path
  4. fall — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. swing — in golf
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bat — the animal
  11. swing — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. ground — the earth
  14. track — a song
  15. file — a tool
  16. fall — to drop
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. ground — crushed
  22. spring — the season
  23. file — a document
  24. swing — to play on

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