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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — the amount
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stem — to come from
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cell — a phone
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. mate — a partner
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wound — an injury
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cell — in biology

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