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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 120 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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. swing — in golf
  3. last — to go on
  4. track — to keep track
  5. swing — to play on
  6. last — final
  7. track — a song
  8. drill — the tool
  9. race — a contest
  10. swing — music
  11. bat — the animal
  12. drill — army training
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. last — finally
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bass — low music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bass — the fish
  24. race — humankind

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