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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. ball — a dance
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. field — a subject
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ball — a great time
  16. field — for sport
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. file — a tool
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. content — the amount
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. content — happy
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. mine — for digging

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