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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. bark — to shout
  6. net — for catching
  7. spell — magic
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spell — a short time
  12. content — happy
  13. net — after costs
  14. content — the amount
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. track — a path
  17. field — a subject
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. net — in sport
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. spell — letters
  23. field — for sport
  24. bark — of a tree

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