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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bear — the animal
  3. club — for dancing
  4. track — a path
  5. spell — a short time
  6. track — a song
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bear — the animal
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. club — a group
  17. capital — a city
  18. stem — to come from
  19. club — for golf
  20. band — a music group
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spell — magic
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. band — a ring

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