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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. present — there
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. snap — to click
  5. track — a song
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. present — the time now
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. track — to keep track
  12. content — happy
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. fork — in a road
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. file — a document
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. file — a line of people
  20. content — the amount
  21. present — a gift
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. file — a tool
  24. wave — of the sea

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