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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. clip — for paper
  3. track — to keep track
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. track — a song
  6. foot — a measure
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. shower — to wash
  9. spring — a coil
  10. track — a path
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. spring — of water
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. chip — for betting
  24. spring — the season

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