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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. content — happy
  5. cue — a hint
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. tube — a container
  9. pound — a weight
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cue — a signal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. field — for sport
  18. cue — for pool
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. field — a subject
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. content — the amount

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