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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — a song
  3. ball — a great time
  4. clip — to cut
  5. race — the arms race
  6. suit — in cards
  7. bat — the animal
  8. land — to come down
  9. suit — clothes
  10. squash — to crush
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. suit — to fit
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. squash — the sport
  17. race — a contest
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. race — humankind
  21. track — to keep track
  22. land — a country
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. land — ground

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