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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. clip — for paper
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. ball — a great time
  6. track — a song
  7. track — a path
  8. pitch — completely
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ball — a dance
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fall — the season
  21. clip — a video
  22. deal — to handle
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bark — to shout

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