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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 116 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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. rest — a break
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rest — what's left
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. rest — what's left
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fall — the season
  9. hand — help
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bear — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. track — to keep track
  20. fork — in a road
  21. clip — for paper
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. track — a song
  24. bear — the animal

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