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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 120 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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. field — for sport
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. field — farmland
  6. rest — a break
  7. band — a ring
  8. net — for catching
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. net — after costs
  12. rest — what's left
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. net — in sport
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — to bear
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. rest — what's left
  22. band — a music group
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — the amount

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