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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. object — an aim
  3. spell — letters
  4. press — to push
  5. object — a thing
  6. clip — for paper
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bore — to tire
  10. spell — a short time
  11. track — a path
  12. object — to protest
  13. track — a song
  14. clip — a video
  15. spell — magic
  16. shower — rain
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — to cut
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bore — to drill
  23. press — newspapers
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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