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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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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 · tube · field · firm · bat · spring · bark · pitcher

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. content — happy
  4. bark — to shout
  5. spring — of water
  6. firm — steady
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. firm — decided
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. field — for sport
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. content — the amount
  18. field — a subject
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tube — a container
  21. spring — the season
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. field — farmland
  24. bat — the animal

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