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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. track — a path
  5. clip — a video
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. drill — the tool
  8. ball — a dance
  9. drill — a practice
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pop — music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cell — a phone
  15. drill — army training
  16. track — a song
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. pop — soda
  20. roll — a list
  21. bark — to shout
  22. clip — to cut
  23. track — to keep track
  24. ball — a round shape

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