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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — to paddle
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. pop — music
  7. wind — moving air
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. scale — in music
  10. row — a line
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pop — soda
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. sharp — clever
  22. pop — to visit
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. stem — to come from

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