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

Word bank: chest · track · pound · bay · game · craft · clip · root

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. craft — a skill
  6. track — a song
  7. chest — a box
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pound — a weight
  11. root — of a word
  12. chest — of your body
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — to cut
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. craft — boats
  19. track — a path
  20. root — of a plant
  21. game — a match
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. root — the cause

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