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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: ground · track · mine · mug · clip · squash · cell · ball

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mug — a face
  4. squash — the sport
  5. track — a song
  6. clip — for paper
  7. squash — to crush
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mine — for digging
  12. cell — in biology
  13. track — to keep track
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. mug — a cup
  18. clip — to cut
  19. track — a path
  20. ground — the earth
  21. clip — a video
  22. ground — a position
  23. mug — to rob
  24. ball — a great time

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