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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. content — happy
  3. prune — to trim
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. scale — size or range
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. spring — of water
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. prune — to trim
  18. scale — in music
  19. spring — the season
  20. squash — to crush
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. dip — to sink
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. spring — a coil

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