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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. ground — crushed
  3. capital — a city
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — the animal
  6. capital — money
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rest — what's left
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. ground — a position
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. prune — to trim
  17. track — a song
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. track — a path
  20. ground — the earth
  21. prune — to trim
  22. rest — a break
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wind — moving air

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