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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: wound · date · rule · foot · bulb · game · content · track

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. content — happy
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. rule — government
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bulb — for light
  9. track — a path
  10. game — a match
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. track — a song
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. game — wild animals
  15. content — the amount
  16. track — to keep track
  17. rule — a law
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. date — the fruit

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