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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. mug — to rob
  4. net — in sport
  5. mug — a face
  6. track — to keep track
  7. last — final
  8. mug — a cup
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — for catching
  11. clip — a video
  12. last — finally
  13. track — a path
  14. clip — to cut
  15. prune — to trim
  16. last — to go on
  17. prune — to trim
  18. clip — for paper

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