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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. track — to keep track
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. chip — to eat
  8. game — wild animals
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cap — a lid
  16. clip — to cut
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chip — for betting
  19. clip — a video
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. track — a song
  24. game — a match

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