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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: content · can · season · field · cap · date · roll · swing

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. season — of the year
  3. roll — a cake
  4. swing — to play on
  5. season — in sport
  6. can — to be able to
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cap — of ice
  11. swing — in golf
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. field — a subject
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cap — a hat
  18. date — the fruit
  19. cap — a lid
  20. can — a tin
  21. content — happy
  22. can — a tin
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. swing — music

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