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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. dip — to sink
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a partner
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. current — electric
  11. current — happening now
  12. chest — of your body
  13. current — of water
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. mate — a friend
  16. bark — to shout
  17. chest — of your body
  18. track — a path
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. fork — in a road
  21. capital — money
  22. track — a song
  23. chest — a box
  24. capital — a city

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