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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. prune — to trim
  3. face — part of the head
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. key — the most important part
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wind — moving air
  9. key — for a lock
  10. content — happy
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. field — for sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. field — farmland
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. key — in music
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. face — to confront
  24. field — a subject

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