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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. content — happy
  7. rock — music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. staff — a stick
  10. game — a match
  11. staff — employees
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. content — the amount
  16. rock — a stone
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — to sink
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — videos and posts

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