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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — to come from
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pound — a weight
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. field — for sport
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. sharp — clever
  17. field — a subject
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. wake — a trail
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. field — farmland
  24. wound — an injury

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