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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 120 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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. face — to confront
  3. track — a song
  4. shower — rain
  5. object — to protest
  6. face — to point toward
  7. object — a thing
  8. shower — to wash
  9. spell — magic
  10. clip — to cut
  11. race — humankind
  12. face — part of the head
  13. race — a contest
  14. spell — letters
  15. track — to keep track
  16. spell — a short time
  17. race — the arms race
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rest — what's left
  20. object — an aim
  21. rest — what's left
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rest — a break

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