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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 120 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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bound — certain
  4. last — finally
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bound — tied together
  8. last — final
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bound — obliged
  12. clip — for paper
  13. track — a song
  14. hand — help
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. clip — a video
  17. last — to go on
  18. hand — in cards
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rest — what's left
  23. kid — child
  24. hide — to keep secret

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