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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chest — a box
  3. rest — a break
  4. hand — help
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. field — for sport
  7. ball — a dance
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. track — to keep track
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. rest — what's left
  14. field — a subject
  15. ball — a great time
  16. content — the amount
  17. rest — what's left
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. track — a song
  20. perch — the fish
  21. field — farmland
  22. chest — of your body
  23. content — happy
  24. hand — in cards

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