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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 · field · cold · deal · saw · staff · rash · ground

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. field — farmland
  3. ground — a position
  4. saw — the tool
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — an illness
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. staff — employees
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — hasty
  12. field — for sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. ground — crushed
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. field — a subject
  19. cold — not warm
  20. staff — a stick
  21. rash — a series
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. deal — to handle

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