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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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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. content — happy
  3. track — to keep track
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. last — to go on
  6. scale — in music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — a series
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. track — a song
  11. last — final
  12. track — a path
  13. scale — size or range
  14. rash — hasty
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. last — finally
  17. lie — to recline
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. squash — the sport
  23. content — the amount
  24. squash — to crush

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