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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. content — the amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. scale — in music
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. prune — to trim
  8. content — happy
  9. lean — thin
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mine — for digging
  14. lean — to bend
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. wind — moving air
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. lean — to rest against

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