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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 124 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. spring — of water
  4. track — a song
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. field — farmland
  8. kid — child
  9. rock — music
  10. fall — the season
  11. track — a path
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rock — a stone
  14. track — to keep track
  15. kid — to tease
  16. field — a subject
  17. content — happy
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. net — in sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. field — for sport
  23. fall — to drop
  24. spring — the season

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