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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. swing — to play on
  3. track — a path
  4. lean — to bend
  5. clip — to cut
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. clip — a video
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. court — of law
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bark — to shout
  12. clip — for paper
  13. stem — to come from
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. lean — thin
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. track — a song
  22. swing — music
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. swing — in golf

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