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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. pop — soda
  5. field — a subject
  6. bass — the fish
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spring — the season
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cue — for pool
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pop — to visit
  17. field — for sport
  18. spring — of water
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cue — a signal
  21. bass — low music
  22. pop — music
  23. field — farmland
  24. bass — the instrument

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