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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. present — the time now
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. wound — an injury
  7. track — a song
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wound — an injury
  12. present — a gift
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cell — a phone
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. chair — a leader
  22. wake — a trail
  23. present — there
  24. track — to keep track

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