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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. track — to keep track
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. ground — a position
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. track — a song
  8. ground — the earth
  9. cold — an illness
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bear — the animal
  13. track — a path
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. present — there
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bass — low music
  18. present — the time now
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. ground — crushed
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bear — the animal

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