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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. chip — to eat
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chest — of your body
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chest — a box
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — happy
  14. chip — for betting
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. bark — to shout
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. saw — the tool
  24. temple — a place of worship

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