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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  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. kick — a thrill
  3. field — farmland
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kick — in football
  9. season — in sport
  10. cap — a hat
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cap — of ice
  14. prune — to trim
  15. season — of the year
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. track — a song
  21. field — a subject
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  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