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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. field — farmland
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. last — to go on
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. last — final
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. spell — letters
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. field — a subject
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. spell — a short time
  20. cold — not warm
  21. foot — a measure
  22. spell — magic
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. last — finally

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