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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — certain
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stem — to come from
  10. content — the amount
  11. field — farmland
  12. bound — tied together
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. field — a subject
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. field — for sport
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. face — to point toward
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wake — before a funeral

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