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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. wound — an injury
  5. track — a path
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bound — certain
  9. clip — a video
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bound — tied together
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. track — a song
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bound — obliged
  20. roll — a list
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. mine — for digging

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