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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. track — a song
  3. degree — from a university
  4. clip — a video
  5. track — a path
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wake — a trail
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. track — to keep track
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. object — an aim
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. prune — to trim
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. clip — for paper
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. object — a thing
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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