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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. swing — music
  3. track — to keep track
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. firm — steady
  6. swing — to play on
  7. track — a path
  8. firm — decided
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. file — a document
  12. firm — a company
  13. file — a tool
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. swing — in golf
  16. spell — magic
  17. bat — the animal
  18. spell — letters
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. spell — a short time
  22. file — a line of people
  23. track — a song
  24. prune — to trim

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