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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. content — the amount
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. fall — to drop
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — happy
  17. fall — the season
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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