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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. track — a song
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. content — happy
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kick — in football
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. track — a path
  19. key — the most important part
  20. content — the amount
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in music

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