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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. field — a subject
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pit — a hole
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bound — obliged
  10. cap — of ice
  11. pit — in a race
  12. spell — a short time
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. field — farmland
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bound — certain
  20. bound — tied together
  21. spell — magic
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. content — the amount
  24. spell — letters

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