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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. chest — a box
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. field — farmland
  10. lean — to bend
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bulb — for light
  20. chest — of your body
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. tear — from crying

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