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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. lean — to bend
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. vault — a safe
  6. track — a path
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. track — a song
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. band — a ring
  12. pitch — completely
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. tear — to rip
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. clip — a video
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lean — thin
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lean — to rest against

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