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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. kid — to tease
  3. track — a path
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. file — a tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. file — a line of people
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — for paper
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. track — a song
  24. file — a document

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