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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. snap — to click
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. field — a subject
  7. face — to point toward
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. net — in sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. field — for sport
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. field — farmland
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. net — after costs
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. net — for catching
  22. face — to confront
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. prune — to trim

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