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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. field — farmland
  3. content — happy
  4. rash — hasty
  5. content — the amount
  6. field — for sport
  7. pass — a permit
  8. face — to confront
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wake — a trail
  14. field — a subject
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bulb — for light
  21. rash — a series
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. face — part of the head
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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