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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. track — a path
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. march — the month
  11. field — for sport
  12. track — a song
  13. march — the month
  14. rush — hurry
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. march — music
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bat — in an idiom

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