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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. sharp — clever
  6. content — the amount
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bank — of a river
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bank — for money
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cold — an illness
  15. content — happy
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. track — a song
  18. bank — for money
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. track — to keep track
  21. hand — help
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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