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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fine — all right
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — a subject
  7. content — the amount
  8. field — for sport
  9. cold — not warm
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. content — happy
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — farmland
  18. rest — a break
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fine — high quality
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rest — what's left

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