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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 120 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. last — finally
  7. face — to confront
  8. present — there
  9. fork — in a road
  10. track — a song
  11. track — to keep track
  12. face — to point toward
  13. last — final
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. last — to go on
  17. rush — hurry
  18. face — part of the head
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wound — an injury
  23. present — a gift
  24. rush — to hurry

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