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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. toast — bread
  4. track — a path
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. roll — a list
  8. bat — the animal
  9. track — a song
  10. content — happy
  11. spell — a short time
  12. content — the amount
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — magic
  16. perch — the fish
  17. roll — a cake
  18. season — of the year
  19. season — in sport
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. track — to keep track
  24. perch — for a bird

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