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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. last — final
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. spell — magic
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. last — to go on
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — a short time
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. chair — a leader
  14. last — finally
  15. wax — to grow
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. track — a song
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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