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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. charge — in control
  4. race — humankind
  5. last — to go on
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. last — final
  11. race — the arms race
  12. track — a path
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. track — to keep track
  15. race — a contest
  16. field — farmland
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. field — a subject
  19. charge — a price
  20. file — a tool
  21. field — for sport
  22. last — finally
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. track — a song

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