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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. rock — a stone
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. track — to keep track
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. charge — electricity
  11. charge — a price
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. charge — in control
  15. rock — music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. clip — for paper
  18. track — a path

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