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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. track — to keep track
  3. clip — a video
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bore — to tire
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bore — to drill
  12. shower — to wash
  13. track — a song
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a leader
  17. track — a path
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bulb — for light
  20. shower — rain
  21. bulb — for light
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. squash — to crush

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