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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — to cut
  8. track — a path
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. band — a ring
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. track — to keep track
  15. wake — a trail
  16. game — wild animals
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. game — a match
  19. clip — a video
  20. track — a song
  21. band — a music group
  22. cell — a phone
  23. pitch — completely
  24. game — a kind of play

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