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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. track — to keep track
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mine — for digging
  5. press — to push
  6. tear — from crying
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. press — a publisher
  9. net — in sport
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — music
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. net — for catching
  14. tear — to rip
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. press — newspapers
  20. track — a song
  21. track — a path
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. rock — a stone

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