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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. club — for golf
  3. last — finally
  4. track — a song
  5. tube — a container
  6. wound — an injury
  7. capital — money
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. wound — an injury
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. last — to go on
  13. club — a group
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. track — to keep track
  16. land — a country
  17. last — final
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. club — for dancing
  20. land — ground
  21. land — to come down
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. capital — a city
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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