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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. club — for golf
  3. last — finally
  4. stem — to come from
  5. track — a song
  6. foot — a measure
  7. club — for dancing
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. last — final
  10. root — the cause
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. root — of a plant
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. last — to go on
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. root — of a word
  21. track — a path
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. club — a group
  24. foot — part of the body

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