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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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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: pound · pop · track · row · tube · clip · lie · tear

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. track — a path
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pop — soda
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. tube — the underground
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pop — music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. track — a song
  15. row — a line
  16. pop — to visit
  17. lie — to recline
  18. pound — a weight
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. tear — from crying
  22. track — to keep track
  23. row — to paddle
  24. tear — to rip

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