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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. field — farmland
  5. charge — electricity
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wound — an injury
  9. tear — to rip
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. tear — from crying
  12. field — a subject
  13. charge — a price
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. field — for sport
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. pound — a weight
  23. content — the amount
  24. charge — in control

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