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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. swing — to play on
  3. saw — the tool
  4. shower — rain
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. swing — music
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. game — a match
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. swing — in golf
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. game — wild animals
  15. capital — money
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. track — a path
  18. shower — to wash
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — hasty
  22. track — a song
  23. saw — the tool
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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