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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cell — a phone
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. firm — a company
  6. clip — a video
  7. track — a song
  8. firm — steady
  9. clip — to cut
  10. track — a path
  11. field — farmland
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. field — a subject
  14. firm — decided
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in biology
  17. lie — to recline
  18. field — for sport

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