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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rush — hurry
  3. roll — a list
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. firm — a company
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. last — to go on
  16. stem — to come from
  17. firm — steady
  18. roll — a cake
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. firm — decided
  22. cold — an illness
  23. last — finally
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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