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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. net — for catching
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. roll — a cake
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. net — in sport
  9. content — happy
  10. field — farmland
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — a subject
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. net — after costs
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. field — for sport
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pitch — completely
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. roll — a list

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