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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a partner
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. object — a thing
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. content — happy
  8. object — to protest
  9. swing — music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. content — the amount
  12. wound — an injury
  13. swing — in golf
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — to bear
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mate — a friend
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. object — an aim
  21. field — a subject
  22. swing — to play on
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. field — for sport

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