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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. tear — from crying
  3. club — a group
  4. land — a country
  5. scale — size or range
  6. club — for golf
  7. drill — a practice
  8. file — a tool
  9. land — to come down
  10. club — for dancing
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. file — a document
  14. track — a path
  15. scale — in music
  16. tear — to rip
  17. drill — army training
  18. craft — a skill
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. craft — boats
  21. drill — the tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. track — a song
  24. land — ground

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