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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pop — to visit
  6. clip — a video
  7. field — for sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. squash — to crush
  10. field — a subject
  11. squash — the sport
  12. pop — music
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. pop — soda
  15. object — an aim
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. object — a thing
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. clip — to cut
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. clip — for paper
  24. object — to protest

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