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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. content — happy
  3. prune — to trim
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. band — a ring
  7. prune — to trim
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. content — the amount
  12. band — a music group
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. scale — in music
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. stem — to come from
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — with a leg

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