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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. rash — hasty
  3. game — a match
  4. rash — a series
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. perch — the fish
  7. club — for dancing
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cap — a hat
  10. clip — a video
  11. game — wild animals
  12. club — a group
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cap — a lid
  15. track — a song
  16. track — a path
  17. clip — to cut
  18. club — for golf
  19. pop — to visit
  20. track — to keep track
  21. pop — music
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. perch — for a bird
  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