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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. track — a path
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. content — the amount
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. track — a song
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. row — to paddle
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. clip — to cut
  14. deal — to handle
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. content — happy
  20. clip — for paper
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. clip — a video
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. date — the fruit

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