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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — help
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stem — to come from
  6. root — of a plant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. hand — in cards
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — a cake
  17. content — the amount
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — the cause
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. hand — part of the body

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