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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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 song
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. branch — a division
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rush — hurry
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bulb — for light
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. dip — to sink
  15. file — a tool
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. track — a path
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. file — a document
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wind — moving air
  23. file — a line of people
  24. rush — to hurry

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