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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. season — in sport
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pass — a permit
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — the tool
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. season — of the year
  11. can — to be able to
  12. can — a tin
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. track — to keep track
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. can — a tin
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. fork — in a road
  24. track — a song

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