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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: wound · field · sharp · content · date · toast · rash · kid

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wound — an injury
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. field — a subject
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wound — an injury
  10. sharp — clever
  11. rash — hasty
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rash — a series
  14. kid — child
  15. field — farmland
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. field — for sport
  18. date — the fruit
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. toast — bread

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