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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 116 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — for sport
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. plane — a tool
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bulb — for light
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. craft — a skill
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rash — hasty
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. craft — boats
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. content — the amount
  17. bulb — for light
  18. game — a match
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rash — a series
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. rash — on the skin

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