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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. squash — to crush
  5. file — a tool
  6. track — a song
  7. object — to protest
  8. object — a thing
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. pop — music
  11. press — a publisher
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pop — soda
  14. last — to go on
  15. press — newspapers
  16. last — final
  17. pop — to visit
  18. last — finally
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. squash — the sport
  21. track — to keep track
  22. file — a document
  23. press — to push
  24. object — an aim

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