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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — the season
  4. track — to keep track
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. track — a song
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spring — of water
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. shower — rain
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. clip — for paper
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. shower — to wash

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