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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. clip — a video
  3. game — wild animals
  4. club — for golf
  5. bass — low music
  6. clip — for paper
  7. sharp — clever
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. track — a path
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bass — the fish
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. club — a group
  17. track — to keep track
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. dip — to sink
  20. club — for dancing
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. clip — to cut
  24. game — a match

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