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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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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: key · bark · rash · bat · clip · track · stem · hand

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — a song
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. clip — a video
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bat — the animal
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. rash — a series
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rash — hasty
  18. clip — for paper
  19. key — the most important part
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. key — in music
  23. track — to keep track
  24. key — for a lock

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