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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. field — farmland
  3. track — a song
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. track — to keep track
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. field — a subject
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. saw — the tool
  12. snap — to click
  13. march — the month
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. saw — the tool
  16. track — a path
  17. march — music
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. field — for sport
  24. march — the month

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