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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 120 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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. file — a tool
  5. band — a music group
  6. content — happy
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. wound — an injury
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. firm — steady
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. wake — a trail
  15. firm — a company
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. file — a document
  18. plane — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — to come from
  24. firm — decided

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