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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 · track · temple · rest · stick · spell · snap · date

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — a break
  3. spell — letters
  4. track — a song
  5. date — the fruit
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. rest — what's left
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. track — a path
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. rest — what's left
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. content — the amount
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. snap — to click
  24. track — to keep track

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