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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — for catching
  3. last — final
  4. scale — size or range
  5. track — to keep track
  6. key — in music
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. last — finally
  10. last — to go on
  11. key — the most important part
  12. kid — to tease
  13. clip — a video
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. kid — child
  16. clip — to cut
  17. track — a song
  18. net — in sport
  19. track — a path
  20. scale — in music
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. net — after costs
  23. key — for a lock
  24. hide — animal skin

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