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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. content — happy
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — to come from
  5. board — a committee
  6. lean — to bend
  7. content — the amount
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. capital — a city
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. capital — money
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bass — low music
  17. board — to get on
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. lean — thin
  23. dip — to sink
  24. bass — the fish

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