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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 124 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — wild animals
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. last — to go on
  7. pit — a hole
  8. game — a match
  9. field — for sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — a subject
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. last — final
  14. pit — in a race
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. content — happy
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. last — finally

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