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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. content — the amount
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. content — happy
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. net — for catching
  13. fork — in a road
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cell — in biology
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. field — farmland
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. fine — high quality
  24. cell — a phone

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