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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. drill — the tool
  3. content — happy
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. prune — to trim
  6. drill — a practice
  7. track — a song
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — of law
  12. track — a path
  13. content — the amount
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. track — to keep track
  17. rest — a break
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. band — a ring
  21. rest — what's left
  22. band — a music group
  23. drill — army training
  24. rest — what's left

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