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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 120 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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. wind — moving air
  4. track — a path
  5. content — the amount
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — happy
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. scale — in music
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. dip — to sink
  18. track — to keep track
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. scale — size or range
  22. track — a song
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. shower — rain

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