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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bass — the fish
  4. suit — to fit
  5. track — a song
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. tube — the underground
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. wound — an injury
  10. tube — a container
  11. suit — clothes
  12. bass — low music
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. clip — a video
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stem — to come from
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kick — in football
  21. clip — for paper
  22. suit — in cards
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. tube — in a tire

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