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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. field — for sport
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. field — farmland
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. spring — a coil
  9. scale — size or range
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. court — of a king
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. spring — of water
  14. content — happy
  15. spring — the season
  16. clip — to cut
  17. court — of law
  18. scale — in music
  19. lean — to bend
  20. court — for sport
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. content — the amount
  23. lean — thin
  24. field — a subject

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