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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 120 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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — happy
  4. field — a subject
  5. fall — to drop
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. field — farmland
  8. shower — rain
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. fall — the season
  16. shower — to wash
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mine — for digging
  20. suit — clothes
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. suit — in cards
  23. field — for sport
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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