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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. net — for catching
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. mate — a friend
  5. net — after costs
  6. field — farmland
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — letters
  11. capital — a city
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. capital — money
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. net — in sport
  17. content — happy
  18. mate — to breed
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. mate — a partner
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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