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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: rush · content · field · leaves · net · kick · mark · wound

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — a subject
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. mark — a trace
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. kick — in football
  10. rush — hurry
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. net — for catching
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. field — for sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. mark — a grade
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. content — the amount
  24. leaves — lets stay

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