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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. content — happy
  3. rock — music
  4. bulb — for light
  5. snap — to click
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. season — of the year
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. fall — to drop
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. rock — a stone
  16. season — in sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. tear — from crying
  20. field — farmland
  21. bulb — for light
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. fall — to drop

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