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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 120 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. chest — of your body
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pitch — completely
  12. track — a song
  13. track — a path
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. file — a document
  17. stem — to come from
  18. content — happy
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. content — the amount
  23. foot — a measure
  24. chest — a box

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