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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. present — there
  3. track — to keep track
  4. last — finally
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. present — a gift
  8. wake — a trail
  9. current — electric
  10. track — a song
  11. current — happening now
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. row — to paddle
  16. last — final
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. current — of water
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. last — to go on
  23. present — the time now
  24. track — a path

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