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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — for paper
  5. content — happy
  6. key — the most important part
  7. squash — the sport
  8. ball — a dance
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ground — a position
  13. ball — a great time
  14. clip — a video
  15. squash — to crush
  16. pop — music
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. track — a song
  19. key — for a lock
  20. ground — the earth
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. pop — to visit
  23. key — in music
  24. pop — soda

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