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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. row — a line
  3. track — a song
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. clip — a video
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. wind — moving air
  8. track — a path
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — to paddle
  16. track — to keep track
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. ball — a great time

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