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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: firm · stock · drill · arm · field · jam · content · clip

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. firm — a company
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. field — farmland
  7. clip — for paper
  8. firm — steady
  9. drill — the tool
  10. field — a subject
  11. clip — a video
  12. stock — goods
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. field — for sport
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. drill — a practice
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. stock — shares
  20. firm — decided
  21. clip — to cut
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. drill — army training
  24. content — happy

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