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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. squash — the sport
  4. content — happy
  5. row — to paddle
  6. row — a line
  7. land — a country
  8. saw — the tool
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. saw — the tool
  14. kick — in football
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. squash — to crush
  17. content — the amount
  18. stem — to come from
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. land — ground
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. land — to come down
  24. squash — the vegetable

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