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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 120 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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. track — to keep track
  2. track — a path
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cue — a signal
  8. spring — the season
  9. scale — size or range
  10. pop — soda
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. scale — in music
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pop — music
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cue — a hint
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. cue — for pool
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. rock — a stone
  22. spring — of water
  23. fork — to eat with
  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