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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: pitcher · content · rash · wake · field · perch · nail · mine

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — happy
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. rash — a series
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. rash — hasty
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wake — a trail
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. field — farmland

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