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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 116 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. wind — moving air
  3. game — a match
  4. craft — boats
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. game — wild animals
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. band — a ring
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. spell — letters
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. band — a music group
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. spell — a short time
  18. track — a path
  19. spell — magic
  20. clip — for paper
  21. track — to keep track
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. clip — a video
  24. wind — moving air

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