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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. game — a match
  12. field — a subject
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bore — to drill
  15. kick — in football
  16. stem — to come from
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bore — to tire
  22. game — wild animals
  23. content — happy
  24. field — 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