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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. kid — to tease
  3. rash — hasty
  4. content — happy
  5. swing — music
  6. band — a music group
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. field — farmland
  9. swing — in golf
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. content — the amount
  14. band — a ring
  15. field — for sport
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. mark — a grade
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mark — a trace
  21. rash — a series
  22. swing — to play on
  23. field — a subject
  24. kid — child

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