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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. rule — government
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. perch — the fish
  6. rule — a law
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — for sport
  9. capital — money
  10. track — a path
  11. track — to keep track
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — farmland
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. wake — a trail
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. branch — a division
  21. field — a subject
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. capital — a city

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