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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. track — to keep track
  9. ground — a position
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rush — hurry
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. swing — in golf
  16. ground — the earth
  17. swing — to play on
  18. date — the fruit
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. swing — music
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. ground — crushed
  24. track — a song

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