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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — for paper
  4. march — the month
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. mate — a friend
  7. saw — the tool
  8. lean — to bend
  9. march — the month
  10. lean — thin
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — music
  14. track — a path
  15. clip — a video
  16. track — a song
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mate — a partner
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spring — the season
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. mate — to breed
  24. saw — the tool

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