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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — for money
  5. row — a line
  6. saw — the tool
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. squash — to crush
  13. track — a path
  14. saw — the tool
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bat — the animal
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bank — of a river
  23. track — to keep track
  24. bat — for baseball

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