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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. can — to be able to
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. deal — to handle
  6. wound — an injury
  7. face — to point toward
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. face — to confront
  10. content — the amount
  11. can — a tin
  12. prune — to trim
  13. can — a tin
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. face — part of the head
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  24. spell — magic

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