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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 120 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. fall — to drop
  3. can — to be able to
  4. field — a subject
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — a stick
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. track — a path
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spell — letters
  14. track — to keep track
  15. can — a tin
  16. swing — to play on
  17. can — a tin
  18. spell — magic
  19. cold — not warm
  20. swing — in golf
  21. spell — a short time
  22. swing — music
  23. staff — employees
  24. cold — the Cold War

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