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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a trace
  4. band — a ring
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. field — a subject
  7. rock — a stone
  8. field — for sport
  9. band — a music group
  10. mark — a grade
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. field — farmland
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. content — happy
  15. cap — a lid
  16. content — the amount
  17. cap — of ice
  18. rest — a break
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cap — a hat
  22. rest — what's left
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rock — to move gently

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