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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. field — for sport
  4. track — a path
  5. roll — a cake
  6. track — a song
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. tear — to rip
  10. track — to keep track
  11. date — the fruit
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. band — a ring
  15. tear — from crying
  16. prune — to trim
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. clip — to cut
  19. tear — from crying
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. roll — a list
  22. field — a subject
  23. prune — to trim
  24. band — a music group

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