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

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. face — part of the head
  7. content — the amount
  8. prune — to trim
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. spring — a coil
  16. face — to confront
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree

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