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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. content — the amount
  3. track — a song
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. drill — a practice
  6. prune — to trim
  7. drill — army training
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. track — a path
  12. field — for sport
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. track — to keep track
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wind — moving air
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. content — happy
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. wind — moving air
  21. drill — the tool
  22. squash — the sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. field — farmland

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