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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. spring — a coil
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — the season
  6. content — happy
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. file — a document
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spring — of water
  11. chip — for betting
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. tear — from crying
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. tear — to rip
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. track — a path
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chip — to eat
  22. track — to keep track
  23. file — a tool
  24. track — a song

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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