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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. track — to keep track
  3. court — for sport
  4. track — a song
  5. swing — in golf
  6. present — a gift
  7. object — a thing
  8. court — of a king
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — not warm
  11. swing — music
  12. object — an aim
  13. present — there
  14. content — happy
  15. present — the time now
  16. object — to protest
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. content — the amount
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. track — a path

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