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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. current — happening now
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. spring — of water
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. sharp — clever
  8. capital — a city
  9. ball — a great time
  10. current — of water
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. track — a path
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wake — a trail
  16. capital — money
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. current — electric
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spring — the season
  21. ball — a dance
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. fork — in a road
  24. track — a song

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