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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. field — for sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cell — in biology
  9. present — a gift
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. present — there
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cell — a phone
  16. dip — to sink
  17. field — a subject
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. current — happening now
  20. field — farmland
  21. present — the time now
  22. current — of water
  23. current — electric
  24. cell — in a prison

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