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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. content — happy
  3. track — a path
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. content — the amount
  6. track — to keep track
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. pitch — completely
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. track — a song
  13. spell — letters
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. craft — a skill
  18. spell — magic
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. mine — for digging
  24. spell — a short time

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