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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spring — of water
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. track — to keep track
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cap — of ice
  10. rock — music
  11. cap — a lid
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. spring — the season
  15. land — ground
  16. cap — a hat
  17. land — a country
  18. track — a path
  19. clip — to cut
  20. spring — a coil
  21. track — a song
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. land — to come down
  24. racket — for tennis

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