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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 120 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. net — after costs
  4. tube — a container
  5. content — happy
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pit — in a race
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. rush — hurry
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. field — for sport
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. net — for catching
  20. pit — a hole
  21. field — farmland
  22. net — in sport
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. content — the amount

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