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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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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: wound · field · ball · bank · pitcher · content · mark · rest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — farmland
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. ball — a great time
  11. field — a subject
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — for sport
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — a trace
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bank — for money
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. rest — a break
  22. content — the amount
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — of a river

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