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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. band — a ring
  4. track — a path
  5. dip — to sink
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. track — to keep track
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. saw — the tool
  10. season — of the year
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. clip — to cut
  13. saw — the tool
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. season — in sport
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. track — a song
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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