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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. content — happy
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. pop — to visit
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. wound — an injury
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. field — for sport
  10. pop — music
  11. field — farmland
  12. shower — rain
  13. wax — to grow
  14. content — the amount
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wound — an injury
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bore — to drill
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pop — soda
  24. bore — to tire

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