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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. club — a group
  3. track — a path
  4. charge — in control
  5. charge — electricity
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. file — a document
  8. charge — a price
  9. club — for dancing
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. spring — a coil
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. file — a tool
  14. club — for golf
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. clip — a video
  17. ball — a dance
  18. track — a song
  19. ball — a great time
  20. spring — the season
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spring — of water

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