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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. season — in sport
  3. cap — a lid
  4. field — for sport
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wake — a trail
  8. bear — the animal
  9. track — a song
  10. track — to keep track
  11. bat — the animal
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cap — of ice
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bear — the animal
  19. branch — a division
  20. field — a subject
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. season — of the year
  24. field — farmland

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