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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 120 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. prune — to trim
  3. content — the amount
  4. hand — help
  5. rest — what's left
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. field — for sport
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — a subject
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. dip — to sink
  15. ground — crushed
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rest — a break
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. ground — the earth
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. prune — to trim
  24. ground — a position

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