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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. track — a song
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. track — a path
  5. dip — to sink
  6. hand — help
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. row — a line
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. suit — clothes
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. suit — in cards
  15. track — to keep track
  16. hand — in cards
  17. clip — to cut
  18. suit — to fit
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. clip — a video
  23. row — to paddle
  24. 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