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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: foot · bulb · content · bat · snap · track · hand · spell

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bat — the animal
  4. track — a song
  5. bulb — for light
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bulb — for light
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. foot — a measure
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. spell — letters
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. content — the amount
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. hand — in cards
  23. snap — to click
  24. bat — for baseball

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