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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: cap · kick · wound · lie · track · game · content · wake

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. content — happy
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cap — of ice
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. game — wild animals
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cap — a lid
  12. game — a match
  13. wake — a trail
  14. track — a song
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kick — in football
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wound — an injury
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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