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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. track — to keep track
  3. chest — a box
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. staff — employees
  6. track — a song
  7. track — a path
  8. field — a subject
  9. last — to go on
  10. object — a thing
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rule — a law
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. rule — government
  19. chest — of your body
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — an aim
  22. bat — the animal
  23. last — final
  24. chest — of your body

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