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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rash — hasty
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — a weight
  8. track — a path
  9. clip — to cut
  10. chest — a box
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. track — a song
  15. rash — a series
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. toast — bread
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — a division
  24. stem — to come from

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