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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 120 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. track — a song
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. track — to keep track
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. clip — a video
  10. land — to come down
  11. track — a path
  12. land — a country
  13. clip — to cut
  14. squash — the sport
  15. rash — a series
  16. file — a document
  17. squash — to crush
  18. file — a tool
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. last — final
  21. last — to go on
  22. rash — hasty
  23. land — ground
  24. last — finally

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