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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. mug — a cup
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bat — the animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. track — a song
  7. mug — a face
  8. rash — hasty
  9. chest — a box
  10. mug — to rob
  11. capital — a city
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. pitch — completely
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rash — a series
  19. track — a path
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wind — to turn a key

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