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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: track · clip · cold · snap · net · squash · bass · racket

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. net — for catching
  4. track — a path
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bass — low music
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. bass — the fish
  9. snap — to click
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. net — in sport
  12. clip — to cut
  13. squash — the sport
  14. clip — a video
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — an illness
  18. clip — for paper
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — not warm
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. track — a song
  23. net — after costs
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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