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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. last — to go on
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. last — finally
  8. track — to keep track
  9. object — a thing
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. clip — a video
  14. drill — a practice
  15. track — a path
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — an aim
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. hide — to keep secret

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