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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. mate — a friend
  3. stem — to come from
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — to cut
  8. track — a path
  9. field — farmland
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. track — a song
  13. mate — a partner
  14. wake — a trail
  15. clip — a video
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. field — a subject
  18. charge — a price
  19. charge — electricity
  20. mate — to breed
  21. field — for sport
  22. charge — in control
  23. club — for dancing
  24. stem — a stem cell

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