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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. file — a document
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. clip — to cut
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. degree — from a university
  7. track — to keep track
  8. toast — bread
  9. track — a path
  10. file — a line of people
  11. snap — to click
  12. clip — for paper
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. file — a tool
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pop — music
  18. track — a song
  19. pop — to visit
  20. clip — a video
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. patient — a sick person

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