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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. squash — the sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. row — to paddle
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. content — the amount
  8. cue — a signal
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. field — farmland
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. roll — a list
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. cue — for pool
  16. capital — a city
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. field — for sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. row — a line
  22. content — happy
  23. roll — a cake
  24. capital — money

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