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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 124 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. present — there
  3. roll — a list
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — farmland
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — a subject
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. present — a gift
  14. board — to get on
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. roll — a cake
  18. present — the time now
  19. content — happy
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. field — for sport
  23. board — a committee
  24. content — the amount

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