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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. bear — the animal
  4. vault — a safe
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. field — a subject
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. present — a gift
  10. field — farmland
  11. bear — the animal
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. content — the amount
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. present — the time now
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. roll — a list
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wake — a trail
  21. game — a match
  22. field — for sport
  23. present — there
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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