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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. content — the amount
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. firm — steady
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. firm — decided
  14. saw — the tool
  15. stem — to come from
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. saw — the tool
  20. content — happy
  21. prune — to trim
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. firm — a company

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