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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. wound — an injury
  3. march — the month
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. track — to keep track
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. track — a path
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. file — a line of people
  12. track — a song
  13. chip — for betting
  14. march — music
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. chip — to eat

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