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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. pit — a hole
  3. clip — a video
  4. ball — a dance
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — for paper
  12. squash — to crush
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pit — in a race
  16. spring — the season
  17. track — a song
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. clip — to cut
  20. squash — the sport
  21. track — to keep track
  22. capital — money
  23. ball — a great time
  24. snap — to click

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