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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  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. leaves — lets stay
  3. track — a song
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mate — a partner
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. mate — to breed
  13. shower — rain
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mate — a friend
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. leaves — of a tree
  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