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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. charge — electricity
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. charge — in control
  8. track — a path
  9. row — a line
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bark — to shout
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. row — to paddle
  15. charge — a price
  16. content — the amount
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. track — a song
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. track — to keep track
  21. content — happy
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. jam — in traffic

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