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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. track — a song
  3. last — finally
  4. field — for sport
  5. track — to keep track
  6. last — final
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — clever
  12. last — to go on
  13. perch — the fish
  14. hand — in cards
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. hand — help
  17. game — wild animals
  18. field — farmland
  19. track — a path
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a hat
  23. game — a match
  24. perch — for a bird

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