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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. track — a path
  6. content — happy
  7. track — to keep track
  8. staff — employees
  9. field — farmland
  10. staff — a stick
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. court — of a king
  14. field — a subject
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bound — tied together
  17. field — for sport
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — shares
  20. court — of law
  21. bound — certain
  22. court — for sport
  23. content — the amount
  24. staff — employees

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