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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. track — a path
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ground — a position
  5. track — a song
  6. pitch — completely
  7. clip — a video
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. ground — the earth
  13. hand — help
  14. file — a document
  15. squash — to crush
  16. ground — crushed
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. hand — in cards
  21. squash — the sport
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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