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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. track — a path
  3. drill — army training
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — a video
  6. track — a song
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. track — to keep track
  12. rock — music
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. drill — the tool
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — in golf
  22. net — after costs
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. rock — a stone

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