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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — farmland
  3. chest — a box
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. field — a subject
  6. track — to keep track
  7. race — a contest
  8. net — after costs
  9. field — for sport
  10. track — a path
  11. chest — of your body
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. race — humankind
  14. net — in sport
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. fine — all right
  17. content — the amount
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. race — the arms race
  21. track — a song
  22. fine — high quality
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. net — for catching

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