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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. lean — to bend
  3. sharp — clever
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. scale — in music
  6. march — the month
  7. court — of law
  8. hand — in cards
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. court — for sport
  11. march — music
  12. track — a song
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. lean — thin
  15. court — of a king
  16. scale — size or range
  17. track — a path
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. march — the month
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. hand — help
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. scale — for weighing

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