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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: wind · trunk · lean · last · field · spring · season · content

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. lean — thin
  3. content — the amount
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — farmland
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lean — to bend
  10. spring — of water
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. content — happy
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. wind — moving air
  17. last — final
  18. spring — the season
  19. season — in sport
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. spring — a coil
  23. season — of the year
  24. field — a subject

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