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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — what's left
  5. swing — to play on
  6. field — a subject
  7. track — to keep track
  8. track — a song
  9. ground — a position
  10. rest — a break
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. swing — in golf
  13. spell — a short time
  14. swing — music
  15. field — farmland
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. spell — letters
  18. cell — in biology
  19. ground — the earth
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. field — for sport
  22. ground — crushed
  23. spell — magic
  24. cell — a phone

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