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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. sharp — clever
  5. toast — bread
  6. track — a path
  7. track — a song
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. land — to come down
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. land — a country
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. land — ground
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cold — the Cold War

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