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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bear — the animal
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — a practice
  6. field — for sport
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bear — the animal
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. content — the amount
  11. field — a subject
  12. content — happy
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — a coil
  16. field — farmland
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mine — for digging
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bear — to put up with

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