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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pit — a hole
  4. track — a song
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. march — music
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. object — to protest
  9. wound — an injury
  10. scale — in music
  11. file — a tool
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a document
  15. object — an aim
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. pit — in a race
  18. wound — an injury
  19. object — a thing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. scale — size or range
  22. track — a path
  23. march — the month
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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