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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. track — a path
  3. key — for a lock
  4. clip — a video
  5. track — a song
  6. chest — of your body
  7. key — in music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. file — a document
  10. chest — a box
  11. file — a line of people
  12. track — to keep track
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — army training
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. key — the most important part
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a tool

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