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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. capital — money
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — there
  6. present — a gift
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. branch — a division
  12. ball — a dance
  13. content — the amount
  14. present — the time now
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — to handle
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a path
  21. ball — a great time
  22. capital — a city
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. cold — not warm

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