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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 120 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mark — a grade
  5. mark — a trace
  6. content — the amount
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. land — a country
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. content — happy
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. chest — of your body
  19. field — for sport
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. ruler — for measuring

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