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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. march — music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bound — certain
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. march — the month
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. march — the month
  17. prune — to trim
  18. track — a song
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. bound — tied together
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bound — obliged
  24. track — to keep track

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