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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. game — wild animals
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wind — moving air
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. track — a path
  7. toast — bread
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spell — magic
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. wind — moving air
  16. game — a match
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. clip — for paper
  21. track — a song
  22. spell — a short time
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. spell — letters

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