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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. content — happy
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bass — the fish
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. lean — to bend
  11. content — the amount
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. root — of a word
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. craft — boats
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. root — the cause
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. bass — low music
  24. root — of a plant

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