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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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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: trunk · cabinet · dip · chip · content · field · net · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. content — happy
  4. chip — for betting
  5. field — for sport
  6. net — after costs
  7. track — a song
  8. field — a subject
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. net — in sport
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. track — to keep track
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. field — farmland
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — to sink
  21. content — the amount
  22. net — for catching
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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