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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. field — for sport
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. key — in music
  10. stock — goods
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. kick — in football
  13. shower — to wash
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. key — for a lock
  16. track — a path
  17. stock — shares
  18. field — farmland
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. shower — rain
  22. track — to keep track
  23. key — the most important part
  24. dip — to sink

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