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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. drill — army training
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. drill — the tool
  7. object — to protest
  8. drill — a practice
  9. clip — a video
  10. ground — the earth
  11. track — a path
  12. ground — crushed
  13. clip — to cut
  14. net — for catching
  15. object — an aim
  16. net — after costs
  17. ground — a position
  18. bear — the animal
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. track — a song
  22. track — to keep track
  23. net — in sport
  24. object — a thing

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