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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. court — for sport
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. fork — in a road
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. stem — to come from
  15. court — of law
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wind — moving air
  20. content — happy
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. kick — in football
  23. court — of a king
  24. content — videos and posts

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