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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. spring — the season
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. field — farmland
  7. content — happy
  8. present — a gift
  9. spell — a short time
  10. field — for sport
  11. spell — letters
  12. field — a subject
  13. spell — magic
  14. present — the time now
  15. band — a ring
  16. present — there
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water

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