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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. lean — to bend
  3. content — happy
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. lean — thin
  7. spring — a coil
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. land — a country
  12. track — a path
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. land — ground
  18. track — a song
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. land — to come down
  22. spring — of water
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wake — a trail

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