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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. track — to keep track
  5. lean — to bend
  6. bulb — for light
  7. track — a path
  8. field — a subject
  9. mate — to breed
  10. date — the fruit
  11. bear — the animal
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. bulb — for light
  15. row — a line
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. track — a song
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. mate — a friend
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bear — the animal
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. lean — thin

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