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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ball — a dance
  4. track — a song
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — for paper
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. ball — a great time
  10. mate — a partner
  11. land — ground
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. rest — a break
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. track — to keep track
  16. land — to come down
  17. rest — what's left
  18. track — a path
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mate — to breed
  22. land — a country
  23. mate — a friend
  24. clip — a video

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