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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. field — farmland
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — a country
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. rash — a series
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. present — a gift
  10. content — happy
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. date — the fruit
  13. field — a subject
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. present — there
  16. pit — a hole
  17. rash — hasty
  18. present — the time now
  19. land — ground
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. pit — in a race
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. field — for sport

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