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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — farmland
  4. content — happy
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. race — the arms race
  7. drill — army training
  8. race — humankind
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. field — for sport
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bass — low music
  15. lean — to bend
  16. race — a contest
  17. content — the amount
  18. lean — thin
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. field — a subject
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. calf — a young 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