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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. prune — to trim
  4. track — a path
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — to trim
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. track — a song
  18. mine — for digging
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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