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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: track · spell · mine · squash · press · clip · roll · club

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. clip — a video
  4. spell — a short time
  5. track — to keep track
  6. club — a group
  7. roll — a list
  8. club — for dancing
  9. press — to push
  10. club — for golf
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. press — newspapers
  16. track — a song
  17. track — a path
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. squash — to crush
  20. press — a publisher
  21. mine — for digging
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. roll — a cake
  24. clip — for paper

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