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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. pit — a hole
  3. squash — the sport
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. present — there
  6. squash — to crush
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. track — a song
  9. file — a tool
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. pound — a weight
  15. present — a gift
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. mine — for digging
  18. track — a path
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. present — the time now

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