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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. lean — to bend
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. content — the amount
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. present — a gift
  9. wind — moving air
  10. prune — to trim
  11. squash — to crush
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wind — moving air
  14. content — happy
  15. prune — to trim
  16. lean — thin
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — there

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