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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. clip — a video
  3. hand — help
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stand — to bear
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. track — to keep track
  10. swing — music
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kid — to tease
  15. track — a song
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. swing — in golf
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. hand — in cards
  20. swing — to play on
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. kid — child
  24. track — a path

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