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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — farmland
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. can — a tin
  5. wind — moving air
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. shower — rain
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. wind — moving air
  12. can — a tin
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. press — newspapers
  15. shower — to wash
  16. content — the amount
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — a publisher
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. field — for sport
  23. press — to push
  24. can — to be able to

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