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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. swing — to play on
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wind — moving air
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rule — government
  7. swing — music
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. land — ground
  11. content — the amount
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wind — moving air
  14. track — a path
  15. content — happy
  16. rule — a law
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. swing — in golf
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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