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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 124 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bound — tied together
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. track — a song
  6. rash — hasty
  7. sharp — clever
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — obliged
  12. track — to keep track
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. field — farmland
  18. ball — a dance
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. track — a path
  24. rash — a series

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