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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. track — a song
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chest — a box
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pound — a weight
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a line of people
  18. chip — for betting
  19. track — a path
  20. roll — a list
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. chest — of your body

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