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

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — not warm
  5. content — the amount
  6. land — to come down
  7. cap — a hat
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cap — of ice
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. land — ground
  13. content — happy
  14. cap — a lid
  15. land — a country
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cold — an illness
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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