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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 keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. clip — for paper
  4. track — a song
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. track — a path
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. wind — moving air
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. scale — in music
  12. pitch — completely
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. clip — a video
  21. scale — size or range
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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