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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. field — a subject
  5. present — a gift
  6. wax — to grow
  7. field — for sport
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. track — a path
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — the time now
  14. content — the amount
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. clip — to cut
  17. present — there
  18. track — to keep track
  19. dip — to sink
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. track — a song
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. field — farmland
  24. dip — to dunk

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