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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. track — a path
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. snap — to click
  6. shower — rain
  7. face — to point toward
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. track — a song
  10. shower — to wash
  11. track — to keep track
  12. face — to confront
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. chip — for betting
  15. face — part of the head
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. clip — for paper
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. clip — a video
  20. deal — to handle
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. clip — to cut
  23. chip — to eat
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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