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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chest — of your body
  8. march — music
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. key — in music
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. land — ground
  13. key — for a lock
  14. key — the most important part
  15. march — the month
  16. track — a song
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. toast — bread
  19. land — a country
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — a box
  23. track — a path
  24. wound — an injury

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