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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. content — happy
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. spring — the season
  12. charge — in control
  13. charge — a price
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. track — a song
  20. track — to keep track
  21. charge — electricity
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bat — the animal

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