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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. track — to keep track
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. track — a path
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mug — to rob
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. mug — a cup
  11. bat — the animal
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. mug — a face
  17. bank — for money
  18. bank — for money
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bank — of a river
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. track — a song
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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