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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. track — a song
  3. kid — child
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. content — the amount
  8. game — wild animals
  9. track — a path
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. track — to keep track
  12. row — a line
  13. game — a match
  14. row — to paddle
  15. content — happy
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mouse — for a computer

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