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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. face — to point toward
  4. content — happy
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. pound — a weight
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. face — part of the head
  16. branch — a division
  17. field — a subject
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. face — to confront
  23. content — the amount
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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