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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. spring — of water
  3. snap — to click
  4. prune — to trim
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. court — of a king
  8. track — a path
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spring — a coil
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. chest — of your body
  13. track — a song
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. court — for sport
  16. prune — to trim
  17. roll — a list
  18. chest — of your body
  19. court — of law
  20. roll — a cake
  21. dip — to sink
  22. spring — the season
  23. chest — a box
  24. roll — on a roll

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