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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 keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. rest — a break
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. content — the amount
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pop — soda
  9. kick — in football
  10. track — a path
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pop — to visit
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pop — music
  17. rest — what's left
  18. degree — an amount
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. rest — what's left
  23. track — a song
  24. degree — from a university

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