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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. track — a song
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. rash — hasty
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. chest — a box
  11. rash — a series
  12. track — a path
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mate — a friend
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. chest — of your body
  18. stock — shares
  19. prune — to trim
  20. stock — goods
  21. track — to keep track
  22. field — for sport
  23. mate — to breed
  24. field — farmland

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