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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. content — happy
  3. sharp — clever
  4. field — for sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. file — a tool
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. file — a line of people
  10. race — a contest
  11. field — a subject
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. prune — to trim
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. field — farmland
  19. file — a document
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. content — the amount
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. fork — in a road
  24. calf — a young animal

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