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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. last — to go on
  3. rash — a series
  4. last — finally
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. track — to keep track
  7. rash — hasty
  8. content — happy
  9. press — to push
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. press — a publisher
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. last — final
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — in cards
  17. press — newspapers
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. content — the amount
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. track — a song
  24. content — videos and posts

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