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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  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 — a song
  2. spell — magic
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. row — a line
  5. march — the month
  6. track — a path
  7. spell — a short time
  8. clip — a video
  9. spell — letters
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bulb — for light
  12. clip — to cut
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. march — the month
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. track — to keep track
  19. bulb — for light
  20. march — music
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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