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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. clip — for paper
  8. vault — a safe
  9. pitch — completely
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bat — the animal
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. track — a path
  17. clip — to cut
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. track — a song
  23. clip — a video
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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