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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. bark — to shout
  3. mine — for digging
  4. field — farmland
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a hole
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. field — for sport
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. cell — a phone
  17. field — a subject
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. bark — of a tree

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