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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rush — hurry
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. content — happy
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. pop — soda
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. perch — the fish
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. pop — to visit
  15. stem — to come from
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. pop — music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. plane — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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