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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. snap — to click
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. degree — from a university
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. content — happy
  8. staff — employees
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. content — the amount
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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