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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. net — after costs
  4. game — a match
  5. net — for catching
  6. land — ground
  7. saw — the tool
  8. land — to come down
  9. chest — a box
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — in sport
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. chest — of your body
  17. track — a song
  18. land — a country
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. chest — of your body
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. track — a path
  24. saw — the tool

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