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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. track — to keep track
  3. fall — to drop
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. key — for a lock
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. clip — to cut
  12. drill — the tool
  13. key — the most important part
  14. fall — the season
  15. clip — a video
  16. drill — a practice
  17. branch — a division
  18. key — in music
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. drill — army training
  21. track — a path
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. branch — of a tree

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