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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — army training
  6. land — to come down
  7. track — a song
  8. fall — the season
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. ground — the earth
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. pass — a permit
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. track — a path
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. drill — the tool
  23. land — a country
  24. kid — child

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