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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · staff · content · present · leaves · clip · kid · field

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. field — a subject
  3. kid — to tease
  4. staff — a stick
  5. ball — a dance
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. present — the time now
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. clip — a video
  12. staff — employees
  13. ball — a great time
  14. present — there
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. content — the amount
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. field — farmland
  19. staff — employees
  20. present — a gift
  21. clip — for paper
  22. content — happy
  23. field — for sport
  24. leaves — to go away

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