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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — to protest
  8. track — a path
  9. object — an aim
  10. kid — to tease
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. clip — to cut
  13. shower — to wash
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. track — a song
  17. chip — to eat
  18. clip — for paper
  19. shower — rain
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. clip — a video

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