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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cold — an illness
  4. file — a document
  5. bore — to tire
  6. track — a song
  7. ball — a dance
  8. charge — electricity
  9. track — a path
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. charge — a price
  19. cold — not warm
  20. charge — in control
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. bore — to drill
  24. ball — a great time

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