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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. band — a ring
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. track — to keep track
  6. swing — to play on
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. band — a music group
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — size or range
  11. shower — rain
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — a video
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. shower — to wash
  19. track — a song
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. swing — in golf
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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