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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. track — to keep track
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — the most important part
  9. rash — a series
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. track — a path
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. track — a song
  17. bark — to shout
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mug — a face
  20. key — in music
  21. clip — a video
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — a cup
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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