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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 120 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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rock — music
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. content — the amount
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. scale — in music
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. row — a line
  12. content — happy
  13. scale — size or range
  14. rock — a stone
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. row — to paddle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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