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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 120 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. squash — the sport
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. content — happy
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wake — a trail
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. root — the cause
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. content — the amount
  21. root — of a word
  22. cold — an illness
  23. squash — to crush
  24. wake — before a funeral

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