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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. club — for golf
  3. field — a subject
  4. toast — bread
  5. net — for catching
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. mark — a grade
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. club — a group
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. tear — to rip
  15. content — the amount
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — in sport
  20. mark — a trace
  21. net — after costs
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. club — for dancing
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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