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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. tube — a container
  6. shower — to wash
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. lean — thin
  9. sharp — clever
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. lean — to bend
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. field — a subject
  16. last — finally
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. shower — rain
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. content — happy
  24. tube — the underground

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