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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. season — of the year
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cold — an illness
  13. current — happening now
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. content — happy
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. content — the amount
  19. season — in sport
  20. track — a song
  21. current — of water
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. track — a path
  24. current — electric

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