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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. saw — the tool
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. field — a subject
  7. content — happy
  8. field — for sport
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. field — farmland
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. saw — the tool
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ball — a dance
  15. net — after costs
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ball — a great time
  18. bear — the animal
  19. content — the amount
  20. clip — a video
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bear — the animal

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