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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. court — of a king
  20. wake — a trail
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. court — of law
  23. field — a subject
  24. court — for sport

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