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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. game — a match
  3. content — the amount
  4. spell — letters
  5. kid — child
  6. content — happy
  7. spell — a short time
  8. track — to keep track
  9. kid — to tease
  10. dip — to sink
  11. track — a song
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. pound — a weight
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. spell — magic
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. track — a path
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. game — wild animals

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