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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. game — a match
  3. track — to keep track
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mate — a friend
  6. ground — a position
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. stand — to bear
  10. ground — crushed
  11. game — wild animals
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mate — to breed
  16. bound — tied together
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bound — certain
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mate — a partner
  24. bound — obliged

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