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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · field · press · jam · fork · race

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — in a road
  7. race — a contest
  8. press — a publisher
  9. race — humankind
  10. field — for sport
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. field — farmland
  14. press — to push
  15. field — a subject
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. race — the arms race
  18. press — newspapers

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