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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 116 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ground — crushed
  10. track — a song
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. march — the month
  14. dip — to sink
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mine — for digging
  17. track — a path
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. march — music
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. march — the month
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lie — to recline

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