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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rule — government
  4. mine — for digging
  5. content — happy
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tear — from crying
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. track — a path
  18. content — the amount
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. rule — a law
  22. track — to keep track
  23. scale — in music
  24. mine — belonging to me

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