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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bulb — for light
  3. clip — a video
  4. track — a song
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. spring — a coil
  7. track — a path
  8. squash — to crush
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. track — to keep track
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bear — the animal
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bear — the animal
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. field — for sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. squash — the sport
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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