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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. game — a match
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. club — for dancing
  5. track — to keep track
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. track — a song
  11. file — a line of people
  12. foot — a measure
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. club — for golf
  15. clip — a video
  16. file — a tool
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. file — a document
  20. club — a group
  21. clip — for paper
  22. track — a path
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. game — wild animals

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