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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rash — a series
  5. clip — for paper
  6. club — for dancing
  7. key — for a lock
  8. club — for golf
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. key — the most important part
  11. clip — to cut
  12. track — to keep track
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wake — a trail
  15. club — a group
  16. rash — hasty
  17. key — in music
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. clip — a video
  20. ball — a dance
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. ball — a great time
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. track — a song

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