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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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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: stick · band · cell · rock · bat · jam · field · content

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. field — a subject
  5. bat — the animal
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — happy
  14. field — farmland
  15. rock — music
  16. cell — in biology
  17. field — for sport
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. cell — a phone
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. band — a rubber band

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