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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. content — happy
  3. last — finally
  4. club — for golf
  5. mine — for digging
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. content — the amount
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. scale — size or range
  13. track — a song
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. kick — in football
  16. track — to keep track
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. club — a group
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. last — to go on
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. scale — in music
  23. club — for dancing
  24. last — final

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