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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — to cut
  4. swing — in golf
  5. net — after costs
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rash — a series
  9. swing — music
  10. track — a path
  11. bank — of a river
  12. degree — an amount
  13. tear — from crying
  14. net — for catching
  15. bank — for money
  16. net — in sport
  17. bank — for money
  18. rash — hasty
  19. tear — from crying
  20. swing — to play on
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — for paper
  24. track — to keep track

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