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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. track — a path
  5. wake — a trail
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. bound — obliged
  15. rash — a series
  16. track — a song
  17. bound — tied together
  18. capital — a city
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. capital — money
  21. plane — a tool
  22. bound — certain
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. plane — in geometry

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