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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. spring — a coil
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bat — the animal
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. content — happy
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a friend
  14. stem — to come from
  15. track — a song
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. content — the amount
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. ground — a position
  23. mate — a partner
  24. content — videos and posts

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