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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. sharp — clever
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rash — a series
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. snap — to click
  8. mate — a partner
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mate — to breed
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. content — happy
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. mate — a friend
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. prune — to trim
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. rash — hasty

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