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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. club — for golf
  3. cell — in biology
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. clip — a video
  6. club — for dancing
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. suit — to fit
  10. track — a song
  11. cold — not warm
  12. suit — in cards
  13. cell — a phone
  14. suit — clothes
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — a group
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. track — to keep track

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