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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  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. cold — not warm
  3. track — a path
  4. field — for sport
  5. race — the arms race
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. object — a thing
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. object — an aim
  10. rest — what's left
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. ball — a great time
  15. object — to protest
  16. cold — an illness
  17. race — a contest
  18. ball — a dance
  19. rest — what's left
  20. race — humankind
  21. rest — a break
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  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