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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. mug — to rob
  4. chest — a box
  5. present — the time now
  6. last — finally
  7. field — farmland
  8. present — a gift
  9. mug — a cup
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. content — the amount
  13. chest — of your body
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. chest — of your body
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. present — there
  21. game — wild animals
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. mug — a face
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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