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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: content · ground · perch · bowl · bore · temple · stem · field

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. field — a subject
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. content — the amount
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bore — to drill
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. ground — the earth
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. content — happy
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. ground — a position
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. perch — for a bird

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