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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rash — hasty
  3. sharp — clever
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mine — for digging
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. content — the amount
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mate — to breed
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wind — moving air
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. mate — a partner
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. content — happy
  24. rash — a series

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