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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pop · cabinet · track · clip · kid · row · ground · bore

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pop — music
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. row — a line
  6. pop — to visit
  7. kid — to tease
  8. ground — the earth
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. track — a path
  12. pop — soda
  13. bore — to drill
  14. track — a song
  15. clip — a video
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ground — crushed
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ground — a position
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. row — to paddle

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