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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. track — a song
  4. mine — for digging
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. track — to keep track
  8. rest — a break
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. field — for sport
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — a subject
  13. rule — a law
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rule — government
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rest — what's left
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. field — farmland

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