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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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. straw — a straw man
  4. field — farmland
  5. row — a line
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chip — for betting
  8. track — a song
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. sharp — clever
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. row — to paddle
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chip — to eat
  24. arm — a part of something

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