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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. squash — to crush
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wax — to grow
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. stem — to come from
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — a country
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. squash — the sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. prune — to trim
  23. land — ground
  24. mate — a partner

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