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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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bulb — for light
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — for paper
  5. chip — to eat
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. scale — size or range
  8. track — a song
  9. track — to keep track
  10. clip — a video
  11. band — a ring
  12. wound — an injury
  13. scale — in music
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. chip — for betting
  22. band — a music group
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. clip — to cut

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