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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rest — what's left
  3. track — to keep track
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. wound — an injury
  6. field — farmland
  7. root — of a plant
  8. last — to go on
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. rest — what's left
  15. root — the cause
  16. cell — a phone
  17. last — finally
  18. track — a path
  19. root — of a word
  20. rest — a break
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cell — in biology
  23. snap — to click
  24. track — a song

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