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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. net — in sport
  4. mate — a friend
  5. object — a thing
  6. net — for catching
  7. field — for sport
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. object — to protest
  12. content — happy
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. field — farmland
  15. net — after costs
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. content — the amount
  18. field — a subject
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. object — an aim
  21. board — a committee
  22. board — to get on
  23. mate — a partner
  24. bark — to shout

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