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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. ball — a great time
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. track — a song
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. track — a path
  9. season — in sport
  10. prune — to trim
  11. face — to point toward
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. field — for sport
  15. season — of the year
  16. field — a subject
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. prune — to trim
  19. field — farmland
  20. ball — a dance
  21. fork — in a road
  22. face — part of the head
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. face — to confront

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