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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. file — a tool
  5. track — to keep track
  6. file — a document
  7. court — for sport
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. rest — what's left
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. track — a song
  13. lean — thin
  14. court — of a king
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. rest — a break
  18. content — the amount
  19. sharp — clever
  20. file — a line of people
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. court — of law
  23. rest — what's left
  24. track — a path

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