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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. root — of a word
  3. track — a path
  4. face — to confront
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. track — a song
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lean — thin
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. root — of a plant
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. root — the cause
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. ground — the earth
  22. face — part of the head
  23. kick — in football
  24. face — to point toward

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