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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. track — a path
  3. last — finally
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. spell — magic
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. spell — letters
  8. mine — for digging
  9. scale — size or range
  10. track — to keep track
  11. drill — a practice
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — in music
  14. last — to go on
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bear — the animal
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. track — a song
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. last — final
  24. drill — army training

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