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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a song
  3. lie — to recline
  4. track — a path
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. content — happy
  7. drill — a practice
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. drill — army training
  10. file — a tool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. can — a tin
  15. content — the amount
  16. drill — the tool
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. shower — to wash
  20. can — to be able to
  21. shower — rain
  22. can — a tin
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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