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

Word bank: content · cue · stand · row · ground · wind · track · chest

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ground — a position
  4. chest — a box
  5. cue — a signal
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. stand — to bear
  8. cue — for pool
  9. content — happy
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. track — a song
  13. content — the amount
  14. row — a line
  15. chest — of your body
  16. track — a path
  17. ground — the earth
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. track — to keep track
  20. cue — a hint
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — to paddle

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