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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 120 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bulb — for light
  3. track — a song
  4. track — a path
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bulb — for light
  7. band — a music group
  8. track — to keep track
  9. file — a document
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — a subject
  12. content — happy
  13. cap — a hat
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. band — a ring
  17. file — a tool
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. file — a line of people
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. field — for sport
  24. cap — of ice

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