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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — happy
  4. stem — to come from
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. mark — a trace
  7. spring — a coil
  8. net — after costs
  9. tear — to rip
  10. staff — a stick
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wind — moving air
  13. staff — employees
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. spring — the season
  16. tear — from crying
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. spring — of water
  19. mark — a grade
  20. net — in sport
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. net — for catching

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