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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: game · pass · drill · current · tear · pop · content · track

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. content — happy
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. tear — from crying
  6. current — electric
  7. pass — a permit
  8. track — a path
  9. drill — army training
  10. current — happening now
  11. content — the amount
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. game — wild animals
  15. track — a song
  16. pop — to visit
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. drill — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. current — of water
  22. pop — soda
  23. game — a match
  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