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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. last — to go on
  5. hand — help
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. prune — to trim
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bulb — for light
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. last — finally
  14. last — final
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. stem — to come from
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. hand — in cards
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bulb — for light
  24. content — the amount

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