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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. prune — to trim
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. ground — crushed
  6. stand — to bear
  7. field — a subject
  8. ground — the earth
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. field — farmland
  13. pop — soda
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pop — music
  16. ground — a position
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. mine — for digging
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pop — to visit
  23. field — for sport
  24. stand — for spectators

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