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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a song
  4. capital — money
  5. root — of a word
  6. row — to paddle
  7. root — of a plant
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. row — a line
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wax — to grow
  13. sharp — clever
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — after costs
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. net — for catching
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. capital — a city
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. root — the cause
  24. sharp — with an edge

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