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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. clip — a video
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. clip — for paper
  6. dip — to sink
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. track — to keep track
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. band — a ring
  11. clip — to cut
  12. roll — a cake
  13. track — a song
  14. band — a music group
  15. fork — in a road
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. roll — a list
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. band — a rubber band

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