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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. present — a gift
  3. court — for sport
  4. current — of water
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. track — a song
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. cold — not warm
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cold — an illness
  11. court — of a king
  12. current — electric
  13. present — the time now
  14. current — happening now
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. track — a path
  19. court — of law
  20. track — to keep track
  21. present — there
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. clip — a video

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