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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. pop — music
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fall — the season
  7. content — the amount
  8. field — a subject
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. fall — to drop
  11. branch — a division
  12. pop — to visit
  13. content — happy
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. fall — to drop
  16. field — farmland
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. pop — soda
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. season — in sport
  23. rest — what's left
  24. field — for sport

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