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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — in sport
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. kick — in football
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. wound — an injury
  13. ball — a dance
  14. wound — an injury
  15. track — a path
  16. ball — a great time
  17. clip — a video
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. track — a song
  23. clip — to cut
  24. kick — a thrill

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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