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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. capital — money
  8. field — a subject
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pop — music
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. current — happening now
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pop — soda
  18. content — the amount
  19. pop — to visit
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. current — of water
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. current — electric
  24. bat — for baseball

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