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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. prune — to trim
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. chest — of your body
  6. lie — to recline
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. content — the amount
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spell — letters
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pop — soda
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — to visit
  20. stand — to bear
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spell — magic
  23. chest — a box
  24. spell — a short time

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