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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. content — happy
  8. current — happening now
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. tear — to rip
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. stem — to come from
  17. current — of water
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bat — the animal
  22. content — the amount
  23. current — electric
  24. trunk — of a car

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