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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. capital — a city
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. capital — money
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. pit — in a race
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — the season
  13. kid — child
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. snap — to click
  16. track — a song
  17. kid — to tease
  18. scale — in music
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. pit — a hole
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. track — to keep track
  24. scale — size or range

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