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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. rash — a series
  3. clip — a video
  4. content — the amount
  5. track — a song
  6. fall — to drop
  7. track — a path
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. rock — music
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rock — a stone
  14. present — the time now
  15. content — happy
  16. track — to keep track
  17. present — there
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rash — hasty
  20. bark — to shout
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — of a tree

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