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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. hand — in cards
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. squash — the sport
  7. content — the amount
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. track — a song
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rash — a series
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. content — happy
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. rash — hasty
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. hand — help
  22. mine — for digging
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bear — 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