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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a song
  3. net — in sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. field — a subject
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. net — after costs
  11. cue — for pool
  12. field — farmland
  13. file — a document
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. track — a path
  16. file — a line of people
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. content — happy
  21. net — for catching
  22. field — for sport
  23. file — a tool
  24. pass — to spend 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