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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: drill · field · prune · last · staff · suit · content · face

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. field — farmland
  3. staff — employees
  4. drill — army training
  5. last — final
  6. prune — to trim
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. suit — in cards
  10. staff — employees
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — for sport
  13. suit — clothes
  14. suit — to fit
  15. last — to go on
  16. drill — the tool
  17. content — the amount
  18. drill — a practice
  19. staff — a stick
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. face — to point toward
  22. last — finally
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — videos and posts

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