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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 120 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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. club — a group
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. current — of water
  6. season — in sport
  7. current — happening now
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. club — for golf
  10. stock — goods
  11. last — finally
  12. track — a song
  13. club — for dancing
  14. stock — shares
  15. fork — in a road
  16. current — electric
  17. season — of the year
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. swing — music
  23. track — to keep track
  24. swing — in golf

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