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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — happy
  3. shower — rain
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wind — moving air
  7. season — of the year
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. lean — thin
  10. content — the amount
  11. season — in sport
  12. lean — to bend
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. stem — to come from
  15. present — there
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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