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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 120 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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. shower — rain
  2. field — farmland
  3. bound — obliged
  4. last — final
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — in sport
  7. last — to go on
  8. spell — letters
  9. bound — tied together
  10. band — a ring
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. band — a music group
  13. field — a subject
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spell — magic
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. content — happy
  19. bound — certain
  20. last — finally
  21. spell — a short time
  22. field — for sport
  23. shower — to wash
  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