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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. club — for golf
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wake — a trail
  8. track — to keep track
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mark — a trace
  11. cold — not warm
  12. net — after costs
  13. track — a song
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. track — a path
  16. capital — a city
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. mark — a grade
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — for catching
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — a group
  24. pitch — completely

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