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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. land — ground
  3. track — a song
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. face — to confront
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — to come down
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — farmland
  10. track — to keep track
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. face — to point toward
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. field — for sport
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — part of the head
  19. track — a path
  20. prune — to trim
  21. field — a subject
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. land — a country

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