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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. toast — bread
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. chest — a box
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pitch — completely
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. clip — to cut
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mine — for digging
  18. track — a song
  19. clip — a video
  20. track — to keep track
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — for paper

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