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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: game · clip · wake · file · pop · track · tear · mark

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  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. clip — a video
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. file — a line of people
  4. game — wild animals
  5. track — a song
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. pop — soda
  9. wake — a trail
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pop — music
  12. game — a match
  13. file — a document
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mark — a trace
  16. track — to keep track
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. track — a path
  21. pop — to visit
  22. file — a tool
  23. mark — a grade
  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