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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. track — a path
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. field — for sport
  6. content — the amount
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. race — humankind
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. field — farmland
  14. track — a song
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. field — a subject
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — a contest
  24. hide — to keep secret

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