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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: club · tear · scale · chest · content · pop · court · track

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. club — a group
  3. tear — from crying
  4. club — for dancing
  5. track — a path
  6. track — to keep track
  7. pop — music
  8. court — for sport
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — to visit
  11. tear — to rip
  12. chest — of your body
  13. court — of law
  14. chest — of your body
  15. court — of a king
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. chest — a box
  23. pop — soda
  24. club — for golf

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