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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bat — the animal
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cap — a lid
  8. lean — thin
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a path
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cap — of ice
  15. lean — to bend
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. shower — rain
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — the most important part
  20. shower — to wash
  21. cap — a hat
  22. key — in music
  23. fork — in a road
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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