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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 116 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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. mug — to rob
  2. mug — a face
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. field — farmland
  5. scale — in music
  6. content — happy
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. mug — a cup
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. field — a subject
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. content — the amount
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kick — in football
  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