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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. field — a subject
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. content — happy
  5. bore — to tire
  6. net — for catching
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. fall — to drop
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. field — farmland
  12. fall — the season
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. snap — to click
  16. field — for sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the sport
  19. fall — to drop
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bore — to drill
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — after costs
  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