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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. rush — hurry
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. club — a group
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in biology
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. club — for golf
  10. content — the amount
  11. face — to point toward
  12. content — happy
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cell — a phone
  16. row — a line
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. field — farmland
  20. club — for dancing
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — for light
  24. field — for sport

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