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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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. last — finally
  3. scale — in music
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. track — to keep track
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. spell — letters
  9. last — final
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fork — in a road
  12. cap — of ice
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. scale — size or range
  15. spell — a short time
  16. cap — a hat
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cap — a lid
  19. last — to go on
  20. kick — in football
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. spell — magic
  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