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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 116 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wind — moving air
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bass — low music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — to paddle
  16. clip — a video
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bass — the fish
  20. track — a song
  21. track — a path
  22. row — a line
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. deal — an agreement

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