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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. face — to point toward
  3. spring — a coil
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. scale — in music
  6. content — the amount
  7. field — farmland
  8. spring — the season
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. face — part of the head
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. face — to confront
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. spring — of water
  20. vault — a safe
  21. scale — size or range
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. patient — a sick person

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