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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spell — letters
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. object — to protest
  6. track — a path
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — magic
  9. shower — rain
  10. tube — a container
  11. land — to come down
  12. shower — to wash
  13. ball — a dance
  14. object — an aim
  15. land — a country
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. spell — a short time
  20. ball — a great time
  21. object — a thing
  22. tube — the underground
  23. track — a song
  24. tube — in a tire

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