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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.

Make a worksheet

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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. season — in sport
  3. content — the amount
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. staff — a stick
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. field — farmland
  13. season — of the year
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. content — happy
  18. staff — employees
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. staff — employees
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. mine — for digging
  24. branch — a division

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