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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 124 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — happy
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. field — a subject
  6. content — the amount
  7. field — farmland
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. wound — an injury
  10. field — for sport
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rule — a law
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rule — government
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. toast — bread
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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