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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. field — farmland
  3. track — a path
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — a city
  11. field — for sport
  12. land — to come down
  13. last — finally
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bound — obliged
  16. rash — a series
  17. land — a country
  18. capital — money
  19. last — to go on
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. field — a subject

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