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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 124 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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. field — farmland
  3. spring — a coil
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. field — a subject
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. present — the time now
  11. field — for sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. present — a gift
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. wind — moving air
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. spring — the season
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. present — there
  23. wind — moving air
  24. date — the fruit

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