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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. content — happy
  3. field — a subject
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — farmland
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. field — for sport
  13. cue — a signal
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. bark — to shout
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cue — for pool
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — the underground
  21. band — a ring
  22. cue — a hint
  23. content — the amount
  24. tube — a container

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