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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. track — to keep track
  3. kid — to tease
  4. track — a song
  5. firm — decided
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spell — magic
  9. track — a path
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. kid — child
  12. firm — a company
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. clip — to cut
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. spell — a short time
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. spell — letters
  21. scale — in music
  22. tear — to rip
  23. scale — size or range
  24. clip — a video

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