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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · track · pit · tear · land · race · snap · mark

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. land — to come down
  5. cell — a phone
  6. race — the arms race
  7. mark — a grade
  8. cell — in biology
  9. tear — from crying
  10. race — a contest
  11. mark — a trace
  12. pit — a hole
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. tear — from crying
  18. land — ground
  19. race — humankind
  20. track — a song
  21. snap — to click
  22. land — a country
  23. pit — in a race
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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