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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. can — a tin
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. content — happy
  5. can — to be able to
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rock — a stone
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. present — a gift
  10. field — a subject
  11. mark — a grade
  12. field — farmland
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a line
  15. field — for sport
  16. can — a tin
  17. mark — a trace
  18. rush — hurry
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. present — the time now
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. present — there

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