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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. last — final
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. rule — government
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. court — for sport
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. track — to keep track
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bore — to drill
  14. deal — to handle
  15. court — of law
  16. last — finally
  17. track — a song
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. court — of a king
  21. last — to go on
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bore — to tire

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