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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. track — a path
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mark — a trace
  5. track — to keep track
  6. mark — a grade
  7. scale — size or range
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. capital — money
  12. scale — in music
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — of your body
  17. capital — a city
  18. land — to come down
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. chest — a box
  21. land — a country
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. land — ground
  24. scale — for weighing

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