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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. field — farmland
  3. spring — the season
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spring — a coil
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. spring — of water
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. snap — to click
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. track — a song
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. club — for dancing
  19. club — a group
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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