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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spell — a short time
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. file — a tool
  7. sharp — clever
  8. file — a line of people
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. spell — letters
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. field — farmland
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. mine — for digging
  18. file — a document
  19. spell — magic
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. content — the amount
  23. toast — bread
  24. hide — to keep secret

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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