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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. content — happy
  3. track — a song
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. content — the amount
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chip — for betting
  9. row — to paddle
  10. squash — to crush
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. track — a path
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. squash — the sport
  17. track — to keep track
  18. chip — to eat
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wake — a trail
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. row — a line
  24. squash — the vegetable

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