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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. field — a subject
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. dip — to sink
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. band — a ring
  9. field — for sport
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — letters
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. content — the amount
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. band — a music group
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. spell — magic
  23. field — farmland
  24. content — happy

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