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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. content — the amount
  3. charge — a price
  4. mine — for digging
  5. content — happy
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. charge — in control
  11. charge — electricity
  12. spring — the season
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. spring — a coil
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. lean — thin
  19. lean — to bend
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. dip — to sink
  22. spring — of water
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. nail — for a hammer

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