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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fork — in a road
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. season — in sport
  13. track — a song
  14. cold — an illness
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — to handle
  17. pound — a weight
  18. squash — to crush
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. season — of the year
  24. track — to keep track

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