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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. plane — a tool
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. track — a path
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. content — the amount
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. content — happy
  13. pound — a weight
  14. wound — an injury
  15. capital — money
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a city
  19. dip — to sink
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. season — of the year
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. season — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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