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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. content — the amount
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a song
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rash — a series
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. content — happy
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rash — hasty
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. track — a path

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