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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. object — to protest
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. spell — letters
  5. land — to come down
  6. rash — a series
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. object — an aim
  11. cold — an illness
  12. object — a thing
  13. stock — shares
  14. cold — not warm
  15. land — ground
  16. spell — a short time
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. track — a song
  21. rash — hasty
  22. land — a country
  23. stock — goods
  24. spell — magic

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