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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 cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. field — a subject
  3. content — happy
  4. field — farmland
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. lie — to recline
  7. object — to protest
  8. bound — obliged
  9. wound — an injury
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — to go on
  12. bound — certain
  13. wound — an injury
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. object — an aim
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bound — tied together
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. object — a thing
  23. field — for sport
  24. racket — for tennis

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