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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. track — to keep track
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. shower — rain
  7. content — happy
  8. track — a path
  9. pop — to visit
  10. track — a song
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pop — soda
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. clip — for paper
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. clip — to cut
  21. content — the amount
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pop — music
  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