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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a path
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. current — electric
  5. march — music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cue — a hint
  13. current — happening now
  14. file — a document
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. current — of water
  18. track — a song
  19. file — a tool
  20. cue — a signal
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fork — in a road
  23. cue — for pool
  24. fork — to eat with

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