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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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 — happy
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. present — a gift
  5. band — a ring
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — music
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. present — the time now
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. perch — the fish
  13. present — there
  14. content — the amount
  15. field — for sport
  16. row — to paddle
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. row — a line
  20. pop — to visit
  21. band — a music group
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. field — farmland
  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