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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — for sport
  3. content — the amount
  4. last — finally
  5. last — final
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a grade
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. current — of water
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. press — a publisher
  14. cell — in biology
  15. season — in sport
  16. current — electric
  17. press — newspapers
  18. season — of the year
  19. current — happening now
  20. press — to push
  21. last — to go on
  22. mark — a trace
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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