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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 116 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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. current — electric
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. pit — a hole
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. track — a path
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. root — the cause
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. track — a song
  17. cold — not warm
  18. current — of water
  19. current — happening now
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — of a word
  23. stand — to bear
  24. straw — a straw man

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