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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: pop · court · track · land · cold · content · foot · hide

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. land — a country
  4. content — the amount
  5. land — ground
  6. track — a song
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. track — a path
  11. court — for sport
  12. foot — a measure
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. court — of a king
  17. content — happy
  18. court — of law
  19. pop — soda
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. land — to come down
  22. pop — to visit
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. cold — an illness

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