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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. staff — employees
  7. field — a subject
  8. staff — employees
  9. bound — certain
  10. content — the amount
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bound — obliged
  13. staff — a stick
  14. bound — tied together
  15. field — farmland
  16. file — a line of people
  17. field — for sport
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. file — a tool
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. file — a document

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