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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. track — a song
  4. clip — to cut
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. chest — a box
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. track — to keep track
  13. chest — of your body
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. rash — hasty
  16. shower — rain
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pass — a permit
  24. track — a path

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